Cerebrospinal Meningitis has claimed 85 lives in Yobe state, while 2,510 have recovered from the disease between January 2023 to April 2024, the state government confirmed.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Lawan Gana, clarified that media reports suggesting 200 deaths in Potiskum and Nangere local government areas of the state were inaccurate, following a thorough investigation that disproved such claims.
‘‘It came to the notice of the ministry the social media story that has made the rounds about the deaths of about 200 youths in Potiskum and Nangere LGAs in the last two weeks that were associated with meningitis.
“The outbreak in December 2023 was identified as a type C Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) outbreak. 2,510 persons recovered from the disease while 85 died. These deaths were primarily attributed to late reporting or failure to report to health facilities.
“I am assuring you that, the government was able to manage the cases, but we want the federal government to donate more vaccinations to tackle disease outbreaks in the state” he said.
“The Ministry of Health before we come out to disputes, we normally do our diligence to ensure we give out the facts. Having received that report, we mandated the State Epidemiologists, supervised by the Director of Public Health they first to contact the local government health teams of the said local government areas, but found out that there was no issue of such nature” he explained.
The commissioner further urged the federal government to provide more vaccinations to combat disease outbreaks effectively.
Dr. Gana noted the role of hot weather in disease outbreaks. He also advised the public to sleep in ventilated areas and report any health concerns to health facilities for immediate action.
