By Ifeoma Ikem
No fewer than 30 youths in the last three weeks died in the Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, has revealed the causes of the strange illness which had claimed lives.
According to him, results emanating from a series of laboratory tests following samples collected from some of the victims revealed that the said strange illness was yellow fever.
Most affected communities by the strange disease are Ute-Okpu, Ute-Erumu and Idumesa.
Ononye said in spite of claims by locals that over 30 persons have been killed as a result of the ravaging disease, death recorded was about 22 with seven cases being managed at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba.
The Health Commissioner disclosed that the state government had also sent samples to Reference Region Laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, for further confirmation of the cause of the deaths.
Addressing pressmen alongside the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu and Director General of Orientation Bureau, Eugene Uzum, said the results of the samples sent to Dakar are expected to be ready in the next two weeks.
He said the state government had deplored health officials to the area to mitigate the effect of the disease.
Ononye urged residents not to panic, stressing that the state government was collaborating with health-related agencies to step up measures to contain the spread of the disease.
Samples were collected from patients and sent to the laboratory. We have received results and the results point to yellow fever as the cause of deaths we heard of in those areas.
“The result we have received is helping to move us to a more definitive action, while we still await a final authentication from the Reference Regional Laboratory in Dakar.
“We have begun immediate outbreak response activities. As we speak, we have informed Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Primary Healthcare Development Agency which usually collaborates with us, and that is why they have sent teams to support us.
“We are taking definite lines of action to have an effective response. We assure residents that everything is being done to ensure that it does not escalate.
“Before now, there was a planned yellow fever preventive campaign to begin November 20, we are moving it closer to enable us tackle what is before us,” he added.
On the symptoms of the disease, Dr. Ononye said yellow fever usually manifests much more bizarre symptoms than malaria.
“Some patients are with fever, body pains, headache, vomiting with or without blood. Some begin to bleed from the nose or mouth. Some of those we have just convulse and some recover very well even without coming to the hospital,” he added.