•Reports of unknown illness, deaths, mere rumours – Kwara health commissioner
•We’re working hard to combat disease – Kogi govt
From Layi Olanrewaju (Ilorin) and Emmanuel Adeyemi (Lokoja)
In the Fulani camps at Oro Ago, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, death walks on all fours. A strange disease that hit the area in late July has reportedly killed about 74 residents. And the people are unhappy that government is not doing enough to help them.
In Kwara, the situation is pathetic. Dozens of victims of the same strange disease have died in some Fulani settlements in the state, even as many more are sick and dying in various hospitals,
Just last month, Ilorin, the state capital, was ravaged by a sudden outbreak of cholera, with some of the victims passing on. But it took days before the state government swung into action, with a team from the World Health Organisation to contain the deadly disease.
The Ministry of Health had affirmed then that its “epidemiological systems of identifying or reporting suspected disease outbreak” was not exploited in the circumstance.
It was gathered that a large number of Fulani men had died since the outbreak of the strange illness on July 23, 2017. There had been reports that over 70 deaths had been reported in five Fulani camps in Oro Ago area after three weeks of the outbreak.
Investigations by the reporter showed that the outbreak of the disease was reported to the staff of the Basic Health Centre, Oro Ago, by the of Head of the Fulani community in the area, Wakali Sheu, when four members of the community from Gaa Okuta lost their lives after vomiting blood and some black substances.
The sources alleged that the appropriate state health authorities were not proactive until the disease spread to other Fulani camps within the area, where several lives have been lost within the period.
Sheu and five of his subjects were upset with the health officials over the alleged neglect. He claimed that no fewer than 10 of his people had been dying daily since the deadly disease broke out. He said he was forced to contact the media with a view to attracting attention from people across the country. He was also planning to go to the federal capital, Abuja, with his chiefs to force the federal health authorities to help.
But the Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Atolagbe Sulyman Alege, has denied the reports that over 70 lives have been lost to the strange disease, insisting that his ministry had not confirmed any fatalities in any part of the state.
Alege said some officials of the ministry and the WHO were sent to Oro Ago, where samples of blood of victims were taken for laboratory analysis.
Another community leader told the reporter that 35 people have died.
The man, who did not want his name in print, said: “One of the victims was a four-year-old boy, Jaffar.
“The deaths started three weeks ago. We immediately reported to the appropriate authorities, but no action was taken and that was why we went to the press.”
When the reporter visited Oro Ago, the state epidemiologist, Dr. (Mrs.) Kamaldeen, and Johnson Alawode, a pharmacist, and the WHO representative in Ifelodun Local Government were on hand.
The state epidemiologist stated that the team was professionally handling the situation. She said they had visited all the affected communities and blood samples had been sent to the lab.
“The symptoms they all complain about are headache, vomiting and consistently passing watery stools,” she said.
But the Fulani leader, Jowuro Sori, who conducted this correspondent and other journalists round some affected settlements, faulted the claim by the state government. He insisted that no fewer than 24 people had died from the illness.
He showed the journalists a new burial ground in Obu area, off Oreke road, Oro-Ago that was newly allocated to the Fulani to bury those that died as a result of the unknown disease.
The reporter saw 12 newly dug graves: 11 for adults and one for a young person. Three other patients, two girls and one boy, who had just caught the illness, were shown to the journalists.
The names of the girls are Hauwawu Dogo and Aisha Yakubu, while the male victim was not identified. The Fulani leader said some of the casualties were buried by the road side after they died on their way to the hospital in Lafiagi, Omu-Aran and other places.
He said some of the dead were Moh Irua, Umaru Dodi, Wty Sajo (female), Hawwau Bagu (female), Adyatu Abubakar (female), Muhammed Gide, Umaru Dogari, Umaru Babangida, Usman Babangida, Aliu Namabila, Delu Umar, and Aishatu Aliu (female).
Four men who had lost children to the disease also called on government and donor agencies to assist the community.
Muhammed Ibrahim’s son, Ide, Tahu Adamu’s son, Shehu, Abubakar Michede’s daughter, Hadizah, and Alhaji Umaru Babuga’s daughter, Fatimah, were all killed by the disease, the reporter was told.
The community health officer, ECWA Church Health Maternity Centre, Oro-Ago, Mr. Philips Obayan, said some Fulani had brought sick people to the facility. He said many of the victims complained of vomiting blood and black substances, adding that he referred them to the General Hospital, Omu Aran, for better treatment. The ECWA facility had no capacity to deal with the illness, he said.
“We had some patients in June, some from Ahu, some from Obu, Ajegunle and other neighbouring villages. When I came in June, we lost one old woman. They told me that she was vomiting and passing stool. I diagnosed her with diarrhoea and placed her on admission, but the second day her vomit was blackish. I was going to refer her to a bigger hospital, but she died in the night.
“Other cases, as soon as they came, I referred them to the General Hospital, Omu Aran, a distance of about 45 kilometres. From my preliminary investigation, the people had yellow fever or virile hepatitis.
“The people who are in Oro-Ago town are not affected. However, the people who stayed in the bush and villages, such as the Fulani and those people that cut trees, are affected. One of them recently brought his child; I confirmed that the boy was dead,” Obayan said.
However, doctors and experts who spoke to our correspondents on Thursday said the symptoms described by the victims were suggestive of a viral haemorrhagic disease.
A surgeon, Dr. Adekunle Ashimi, said the symptoms could be indicative of Lassa fever.
Ashimi said: “I know that there was a cholera outbreak, but the symptoms described here do not fit cholera. It appears they have another viral haemorrhagic disease from the family of Ebola and Lassa. But samples need to be collected and analysed to get a conclusive diagnosis.”
Corroborating his colleague’s view, another medical practitioner, Dr. Adeoye Oyewole, said it could either be a situation aggravated by local poisoning or Lassa fever.
Adeoye said: “I would say a high index for Lassa infection. Also, considering the population and the mortality figure, it could be poisoning. Let’s not forget that Lassa itself is poisoning of food by rat faeces and urine. There is a local factor in that place that is poisoning their collective food or water intake. A lot of analyses are required.”
But the commissioner for health said reporting issues through the media was not a normal procedure.
Alege said: “We were there on Friday and we discussed with the Oloro of Oro-Ago, Oba Johnson Dada. Our state epidemiologists and WHO officials were also with them.
“The process of reporting health issues is not through the press, but we have taken samples from the community to a virology laboratory in Lagos and the preliminary report will come out by Tuesday. But as at Thursday, August 17, 2017, the report was yet to be released. So we still regard the outbreak as a rumour and no life was lost to the so-called strange illness until when proven by the report.
“I will advise that, if any further issues come up, they should report to the appropriate quarters. We still see the claim as a rumour until the result of the test comes out.”
The director, Institute for Molecular Science and Biotechnology, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr. Ayokunle Afolabi-Toye, said a blood toxicological screening would yield some insight and an accurate diagnosis of the disease. He noted that epidemiologists and relevant health authorities in the state needed to confirm the deaths.
Afolabi-Toye said: “I would first explore the possibility of chemical poisons in the community. Not enough symptoms are reported and the sequence and timing of appearance of symptoms is not indicated either. But blood toxicological screening will yield some insights.”
In Kogi State, the situation is no less dire.
On a bed in the emergency ward of the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, a toddler lay, writhing in great pain. Beside him were his mother and a few relations who watched helplessly, agony fully inscribed on their faces.
On the right were three other boys between the ages of four and seven who were lying critically ill in bed. And on the opposite side was a middle-aged pregnant woman whose case was particularly pathetic. The husband and two of the children were all in sorrow, unsure of what would happen to their beloved one.
These are the victims of the strange disease that has ravaged the Fulani settlements in Kogi State, killing over 62 people by some accounts.
The victims, it was gathered, usually die after consistently vomiting and passing watery stool and blood, after which they get very weak.
The sickness was said to have emanated from Oro Ago, a boundary town in Kwara State where dozens of people have reportedly died.
On Wednesday last week, Kogi State government confirmed the outbreak of a strange disease in Okunran, Okoloke and Isanlu-Esa, all in Yagba West Local Government Area of the state.
Commissioner for health, Dr. Saka Audu, disclosed this when he visited the affected villages. He declared, however, that the deaths resulting from the illness were not caused by Lassa fever.
He said a technical team was immediately set up and it took samples of blood and urine of victims to the General Hospital, Irua, Edo State, for definitive investigation.
Mallam Abubakar Burutu, one of the Fulani community leaders who spoke to Daily Sun, has lost two children to the strange disease. He said that, contrary to the general belief that the mysterious deaths occurred recently, the situation actually started a few weeks to the Sallah celebrations about two months ago.
Burutu, who still had one of his sons, Umoru, lying very ill at the hospital when this reporter visited, said the people initially thought it was some farmers who poisoned their water. He said the people later discovered that the deaths were not spontaneous, even as they were spreading to virtually all the Fulani settlements in the area.
He claimed that, since the strange sickness started, seven people had died in his own settlement in Isanlu Esa, while other settlements also recorded some losses. He said it would be difficult to get the accurate figures of those that have died.
According to his account, the victims passed watery stool and vomited frequently before they died, although not all the victims vomited, as some merely complained of dizziness before passing on.
Burutu said his people were discouraged from going to the hospital because each time a victim was taken to the General Hospital, Egbe, the victim usually died shortly after. Burutu also alleged that because of the strange disease, the indigenes of the area were now avoiding Fulani people like the plague. In addition, the traditional rulers in communities where the Fulani settlements were located had warned relatives of those suffering from the strange disease to bury the dead in the thick forest far from the communities.
Mrs. Rahamatu Bauchi’s three-year-old girl was also receiving treatment at the hospital when the reporter visited. She informed Daily Sun that in her settlement at Okoloke, 10 people, including children, had so far been confirmed dead while about 15 patients were in various hospitals.
In response to inquiries, chief medical director of the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, Dr. Folorunsho Ihilaye, said 25 people were rushed to the hospital on Thursday last week. He said as at Saturday, 18 of the patients had been treated and discharged while seven were still undergoing treatment.
He said although the cause of the ailment had not been ascertained, the patients were comprehensively examined and treated.
Chairman of Yagba West Local Government Area, Mr. Joseph Olutimi, said he was the one that quickly evacuated the affected Fulani from their various settlements and took them to various hospitals in the state. He dismissed the figure of casualties being peddled around, saying the accurate number of the dead was still unknown.
The commissioner for health, Dr. Saka Audu, who also spoke to our correspondent, said the state government was yet to get the accurate figures of casualties. But he noted that he had, over the weekend, detailed state officials to go round the bushes surrounding the Fulani settlements to count the graves of the victims.
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State was scheduled to visit the scenes of the incident on Saturday, but he could not, as he went to Abuja to receive President Muhammadu Buhari who arrived the country that evening.
A statement from his media aide, Kingsley Fanwo, however, assured residents that the government would do everything to unravel the cause of the strange illness.
But for now, there is considerable apprehension in Fulani settlements, as people are confused about the cause of the mysterious disease that has despatched many to their graves. Residents of the communities have appealed to state and federal authorities to come to their aid before they are totally annihilated by the strange disease.