No fewer than five persons have so far been confirmed dead and two others currently responding to treatment following outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis( CSM) in Gada local government area of Sokoto State.
The outbreak which was initially attributed to strange ailment was however confirmed to be CSM after a cerebro spinal fluid samples was taken and analyzed at the medical laboratory in Sokoto.
Confirming the incident, Sokoto State commissioner for Health, Dr. Shehu Balarabe Kakale said it actually happened in Wauru town of Gada local government and assured that the situation has been brought under total control.
According to Dr. Kakale, the five deaths were recorded at the Gada General Hospital and Wauru Primary Health Centre within this year.
“Three of the deaths were recorded at the Gada General hospital, while two were recorded at the Wauru PHC
‘’The situation had however subsided as only two persons were currently on admission at the Gada General Hospital and they were responding to treatment.”
While divulging that there was no strange ailment as erroneously expressed in some quarters, Dr. Kakale added that test results had revealed the disease was simply meningitis and not any mysterious ailment.
He noted further that cases of high fever and cerebral fever were identified and the state government responded very swiftly by deploying a high powered medical team, including an epidemiologist who conducted case definition, identification and contacts tracing.