RIVERS: NCDC moves in, after 11 people reportedly die from strange disease

No less than 11 persons have reportedly died from a disease yet to be identified in Bonny Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State.

It was also learnt that officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Saturday landed in the LGA, an island in Rivers.

The officials were said to have started taking samples to ascertain if COVID-19 was the cause of the strange deaths.

The result of the NCDC test was still being expected, as at the time of this report.

According to reports from the state, many people in the area have been manifesting symptoms of malaria and typhoid in recent times.

Following the development, no less than 11 persons were said to have lost their lives, including two patients, who were identified simply as Pauline and Fubara.

It was further learnt that those suffering from the strange disease usually lost their senses of smell and taste.

Although the state government was yet to confirm the development, a statement signed by Omoni LongJohn, Secretary of the Bonny LGA; and Pafuro Tolofari, Supervisor for Health, revealed that about 50 per cent of patients complained of dizziness and bitter taste in the mouth.

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“There has been an increase in drug-resistant malaria in the past two weeks on the Island. There is also an increase in the cases of typhoid fever in the same period. About 50 per cent of the patients also complained of dizziness, bitterness in the mouth, lack of sense of taste and smell.

“The resistance to normal malarial drugs results in patients returning almost immediately with the same complaints, resulting in the administration of intravenous injections. This treatment shows 100 per cent improvement in the health of the patients.

“Patients with loss of taste and smell are given allergy drugs and they report improvements, as majority of them do not show symptoms of cough and catarrh.

“There has been no death as a result of these illnesses in any of the hospitals/clinics on the island in the past one month. There have been less than six in-patient deaths in all the hospital/clinics on the island in the past two weeks and they all have chronic medical history.

“There are about six cases of dead patients brought to the hospital/clinics for confirmation. They also have compromised health situations beforehand, on inquiry to their families by the doctors,” the statement read.

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