The Nation Newspaper

Tag: strange disease

  • Strange disease kills eight persons in Kano

    A strange disease has ravaged Dungurawa village, in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano state, claiming 8 lives, The Nation has learnt.
    Residents told The Nation on Monday that the strange disease started about a week ago in the community and has created panic as it claims lives almost on a daily basis. They said the deceased are five children and three young men ranging from 13 to 25 years old while the children are seven years below.
    The disease according to the residents, starts with the symptoms of high fever , headache and stomach pains.
    A resident that lost three children Malam  Suleiman Musa Tafida who was emotional  said his third son died  this afternoon after losing two other children to the strange disease.
    “ My two children Umar and Khadija died last Friday and Saturday while Ibrahim died today, they all had the same symptoms and died after a very short while. Umar died at home while Khadeeja died at the hospital,” said Suleiman  Tafida.
    Also another parent that lost his daughter to the strange disease Haruna Abdullahi  said his daughter died last Thursday after developing high fever in the morning  and died in the evening as the situation became worse.
    The Ward Head of the area Malam Dahiru confirmed the situation noting that they have informed  the health department  of the local government calling for help from the state government to address the situation as the whole village has being thrown into confusion.
    The Nation visited Dawakin Tofa local government council where the head of the health department who did not give his name also confirmed the death of some of the residents due to the strange disease, said they dispatched a team to the affected area and  have sent the results to the state ministry of health.
    Efforts to speak with the state Commissioner for Health Dr. Kabir Ibrahim Gwarzo on the situation proved abortive as his phone line was off.
    Dawakin Tofa Local Government area is about 40km away from Kano, the state capital.

  • Strange disease paralyses 6 siblings

    SIX members of a family in Gitata, Nasarawa State have been left paralysed by a strange disease, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported yesterday.

    Each of the six siblings got paralysed after turning 18 years, the eldest male in the family, Danlami Danladi, said.

    Their father, Danladi Bawa died in 1990 and their mother in 2017 and both were said not to have died of the decease.

    Danlami, 38 years old, said: “Our parents did not die of this disease. They gave birth to eight of us and six of us have been paralysed by a mysterious ailment.

    “When we grew up and reached the age of 18, we found ourselves paralysed. We don’t know what happens and this kind of disease.

    “When my father died in 1990, it was our mother that usually provided us with our needs. Her death affected us more as we found it difficult to eat and take care of our medical treatment.

    “I am the second born of our parents and I was paralysed in 2006. And let me tell you what disturbs us is that, six of us were paralysed when we were above the age of 18.

    “It was after we grew up and we don’t know what is happening to our family.

    “All of us went to the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi and Godiya Clinic, Jabba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, after various tests, they told us that nothing was discovered.

    “We pray that we will be healed of this mysterious disease one day,” he said.

    Danladi appealed to the federal and state governments as well as well-meaning Nigerians to come to their assistance through the provision of foodstuffs as well as medical needs.

    He said that because of their conditions they could not fend for themselves.

    “I was repairing handsets before but now I cannot do the job because I have been paralysed and I pray that God will heal me and my brothers and sisters from this kind of mysterious disease,” he added.

    Other members of the family are Asabe, married and has five children, Pius, Maikasuwa, Danjuma and Cecelia, all paralysed.

    Their siblings, Hanatu and Joshua are the ones free of the disease, being the youngest members of the family.

    Shuaibu Ahmadu, a resident and hunter in the area, said the people were shocked by the affliction and prayed God to heal them.

    “This disease will only paralyse them when they grow up, we wonder why.

    “We pray God to heal them and protect the remaining two children of the family from the disease,” Ahmadu said.

  • 50 kids die of ‘strange disease’ in Jigawa

    50 kids die of ‘strange disease’ in Jigawa

    No fewer than 50 children have died in a Jigawa State village of  ”a strange disease”, the village head said yesterday.

    The kids who died within the last two months in Gidan Dugus in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State were within the age of one and five years, it was learnt.

    Gidan Dugu village is 35 kilometres from Jigawa State capital Dutse in the Northwest geo political zone.

    Village Head Malam Bashari Galadima Gidan Gudu told our reporter that ”the problem started about two months ago, but the situation got worse in the last few weeks”

    Explaining how the disease affects the kids, he said: “The children will start with serious fever, than develop stomach swelling and within a little time they will give up.”

    Painting a grim account of the situation he said: ”there are families that lost seven, four and three children to the disease and at a time, we buried between four and two kids daily during the worse period.”

    The village head said the children were treated at Wangara Health Clinic and some referred to Dutse General Hospital and to Kano, the neighbouring state, where some of them are still on admission.

    Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Alhaji Ali Dandidi said: “ We learnt the problem started sometime in July. The community members refused to go to the public health centre. They relied on and patronised chemists and other medical vendors all the while

    “Nobody reported to the ministry (of health) until on October 27. The ministry sent a medical team there. The team took samples of the patients to the laboratory and we controlled the situation within a few days.”

    According to him, “after laboratory tests of the samples, it was confirmed as malaria and typhoid. We supplied the drugs for treatment and the situation was brought under control.”

  • Strange disease kills 14 in Ondo

    Strange disease kills 14 in Ondo

    An unknown disease has reportedly killed 14 persons in Ode-Irele, headquarters of Irele local government of Ondo state.

    The existence of the killer disease in the community has been confirmed by the state commissioner for health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju.

    He said several others were on danger list, stressing that the symptoms of the strange disease include headache and loss of sight.

    The commissioner said the ministry has swung into action to curb the spread of the disease.

    According to him, the cause of the strange disease was still unknown but said samples had been taken to Lagos to verify the cause of the strange illness.

    Adeyanju said about four other people affected by the disease in the town have been quarantined in a special ward within the General Hospital, Ode Irele.

    However, the commissioner specifically confirmed that the disease was not related to the dreaded Ebola Virus and allayed the fear of the citizenry on the spread of the disease.

    He said the ministry has not verified whether the disease is contagious but said the ministry has been working round the clock.

    The Commissioner said some personnel have been drafted to the local government area while some Personal Protective Equipments have been taken to the area.

    Adeyanju said; “The presentation of the disease is bizarre and this was one of the reasons why the ministry is working round the clock to prevent the outbreak and I am assuring that we will get to the roots within the next 24 or 48 hours.”

    He explained that the disease usually affects the Central Nervous System while the ‎person infected by the disease usually lose their sights and die few hours after losing the sight.

    Adeyanju said local and international health institutions such as World Health Organisation, Red Cross, are already on ground carrying out investigations on the root cause and treatment of the ailment and called on the people of the area to report any case of sudden death or illness to the officials of the ministry in the area.

    ‎He however advised the people of the area not to bury the remains of the affected victims within residential areas since the cause of the outbreak remains a mystery and to curb against the spread.
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    The Commissioner warned the people against sensationalising issues to avoid creating tension among the people particularly on the social media urging the people to rely on the information from the official sources to avoid creating panic among the people.

    ‎A competent source in the community hinted that the death has spiritual undertone ‎stressing that those afflicted by the disease have gone against the spirit of the land which the commissioner however disproved scientifically.