News Obiaks News

More than 150 people, including women and children, have been feared killed following the outbreak of an ailment suspected to be yellow fever in some areas of Katsina state.
            The areas affected are Matazu, Danmusa and Kankara council areas of the northwest state, The Guardian reports. The state government, however, claimed that the casualty figure is 24 with 47 cases so far recorded. But, sources from the affected areas, including family members of some of the victims, insisted that scores had passed on in the past month on account of the illness. According to them, more than 135 people died in Matazu alone, while 10 were said to have lost their lives in Danmusa, and another 11 in Kankara. A former councillor of Kogwane ward in Matazu local council, Sule Ibrahim, said over 112 deaths had been recorded in the area in the last three weeks, adding that three people died over the weekend, with many still in the hospital. The ex-lawmaker hinted that the scourge was first discovered in the area before spreading to the neigbouring Unguwan Sarki community. The village head of Kogwane, Alhaji Shuaibu Ilyasu, said: “More than 50 people that included women and children, have lost their lives in recent days. We are still in disbelief over the deaths that have occurred due to this strange disease.” Sources from Kankara and Danmusa also said some communities, especially those in the rural areas, had been severely affected by the bug with the death toll. Speaking on the issue, the permanent secretary in the Katsina state ministry of health, Dr. Kabir Mustapha, said the first outbreak was reported in Danmusa, adding that eight persons were brought to the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina for a referral. however dismissed reports that scores had died of the virus, insisting that the figure contradicts what was at the disposal of the government. As a preventive measure, he said seven million doses of vaccines had been procured with 6.3 million immunised so far. The disease has feverish conditions, nausea, vomiting and yellowish eyes as some of its symptoms.