The Kano State government has confirmed the outbreak of the deadly Diphtheria disease which has reportedly killed no fewer than 25 persons in the state.
This was confirmed on Thursday by the Commissioner for Health, Aminu Tsanyawa, who listed the symptoms of the killer disease to include sore throat, cough, drooling of saliva, change of voice, swollen neck, abnormal breathing, fever, and mouth odour, among others.
Tsanyawa revealed that the state emergency preparedness committee is currently in a meeting to evaluate the casualty figures, reviewing the data and measures to address the situation.
The commissioner further revealed that the state rapid response team has been reactivated and an action plan has been indexed to check the spread of the deadly disease in the state.
According to him, “Right now, we have presented a budget for this to the government, and it has been approved”.
Tsanyawa noted that the low routine immunisation attributed to the spread of the disease is due to the hard-to-be-reached areas in the state but assured that the state is strengthening its routine immunization.
He stated that apart from the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital designated as an isolation centre, other isolation centres would be created to check the spread of disease.
“Although we used Yargaya for COVID-19 isolation, we have set the place aside for the isolation of diphtheria infection also.”
“We also have three cases of LASSA Fever in the state now with the index case from Taraba.”
“The people should not panic but if they notice any unusual fever, should immediately visit the hospital.”
“We are already embarking on sensitisation to educate the populace on the disease”.
