He said the problem started around April and has since worsened with the increase in the rate of infections and death.
No fewer than 65 persons have been reported dead from the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in Jigawa State.
Daily Trust reports that the majority of the victims are children below eleven years of age.
Some of the villages said to record a high rate of cases in the state include; Mele, Dungundun, Kanya Arewa and Dantanoma villages in Babura; Gumel, Maigatari and Suletankarkar Local Government Areas in Jigawa North West.
According to Malam Alkasim Yakubu, the village head of Dungundun, at least 19 children have died from the disease. He said, “We lost 19 people in this village, the majority were children.”
He said the problem started around April and has since worsened with the increase in the rate of infections and death.
Yakubu further stated, “19 died, 2 people lost their sense of hearing and it was shocking to us as we have never experienced such disaster. We took the patients to Danladin Gumel health post where some died there, while some of the other victims died at home before being taken to hospital. Some of them were also referred to Gumel General Hospital.”
Also speaking, the village head of Mele village in Gumel Local Government Area, Malam Yusuf Ahmad said, “21 people died and over 30 cases recovered.”
While the village head of Kanya Arewa in Babura Local Government Area, Alhaji Akilu Dawaki stated that the disease had led to the death of 19 people in his domain where over 70 cases had been recorded.
According to him, “What helps us in controlling the disease was that we locally established an isolation centre and move the patients.”
The outbreak of the disease in Jigawa began last month and the case worsened in Nigeria/Niger republic border local government areas in the state.
The state epidemiologist, in the Ministry of Health, Malam Samaila Mahmud confirmed the outbreak.
He said, “The record available in the ministry indicated that 65 people have so far died, 257 cases recorded in 18 out of 27 local government areas of the state.”