Two persons have
reportedly been killed while over 160 have taken ill over suspected food
poisoning in Kano State.
It
was gathered that all the patients had taken expired citric acid powdered
drinks.
The products, which expired a year ago,
were still being sold in the market.
The Kano
State Ministry of Health has confirmed that the affected patients are
showing symptoms of haematuria (bloody urine), dark urine, fever, lethargy and
sometimes yellowness of the eyes (jaundice). The state’s epidemiologist, Dr
Bashir Lawan, said the index case was a six-year-old girl seen on March 6,
2021.
“We initially suspected viral haemarhagic, fever, but the test results came back from the National Reference Laboratory as negative for yellow fever and Lassa fever. But we are waiting for a on Dengue fever,” Dr Lawan said.
He
explained that the outbreak had spread to eight local government areas,
including Gwale, Kano Municipal, Dla, Bunkure, Fagge, Gwarzo and Dawakin Tofa.
He also confirmed that water sample was taken from Dandolo cemetery’s borehole
for analysis to consider other potential causes of the outbreak.
He
added that about 3 samples of expired mixed fruit and citric acid powder were
available for laboratory testing to confirm the link to either expired
ingredients or preservatives, while four additional samples were taken for
heavy metals and leptospirosis screening, among other technical response
activities.
Meanwhile,
the state government has provided a list of hospitals designated for patients
affected by this outbreak to be admitted for treatment. The hospitals include Aminu
Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital and
Infectious Disease Hospital.
Others
are Shaikh Muhamamd Jidda Hospital, Shehu Waziri Gidado Hospital, Rano General
Hospital and two hospitals in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area.
During
a visit to the Infectious Disease Hospital with over 30 patients on admission,
Daily Trust learnt that they were suffering serious abdominal pain, vomiting
and blood trace in their urine.
In
the meantime, the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) says it has collected water samples and flavour products for
laboratory analysis following the outbreak of the strange infectious disease in
Kano metropolis. The state coordinator of the NAFDAC, Shaba Muhammad, told
the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Monday that the samples were referred
to its laboratory in Kaduna for analysis.
Amidst the Covid-19 vaccination exercise, which is on-going in various parts of the world, the Senior Pastor of Trinity House, Ituah Ighodalo, has criticised those who believe that their faith is enough to protect them from the virus, when God has given a Vaccine as alleged by him.
This is stemmed from the arguments raised by some clerics against the vaccines, which was developed for the treatment of the novel Coronavirus disease.
Recall, that we had reported that Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy slammed other clerics who wanted to become ministers of the vaccine, rather than concentrating on the healing power of God.
The General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has also expressed lack of confidence in the vaccine.
However, the Senior Pastor of Trinity House, Ituah Ighodalo who spoke to ARISE TV advised his fellow pastors “to do their research, get the knowledge and stop misinforming and improperly educating people on guesswork, instincts and mere suppositions.”
He said that he has taken a jab of the vaccine and claimed he was directed by God after he prayed.
Ighodalo said, “It is foolishness to keep having faith that God will protect you from an infection He has made provision for, vaccines that can provide a high percentage of protection.”
Furthermore, the Cleric added, “I have taken the jab. I prayed about it, and I got a clear direction from God to go and receive it, and I have explained to my people in church that God provides knowledge. I will like to appeal to my brother pastors to do their research, get the knowledge and stop misinforming and improperly educating people on guesswork, instincts and mere suppositions. Coronavirus is real, and you need the vaccination.
“The Bible says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
He said that there is a need to correct the wrong notion that people have about the vaccine by showing them that it doesn’t tally with science.
“Some people think the COVID-19 vaccine is a deliberate effort to wipe out the human population
“We need to address the fears and prove it is not so. Other persons think it is the sign of the anti-christ (666) and we need to prove this is not also true.
“Other people believe the vaccines have long term effect and if you take it today, in 20 years’ time, it would affect them. We also need to address such fears and prove scientifically this is not so,” he said.
“The problem is a lot of these questions about the vaccine are not being properly addressed and there is too much rumour flying all over the place. Some churches believe in divine health but if they study further, they would also know that God provided knowledge for healing,” Ighodalo added.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said Tuesday he tested positive for coronavirus amid a fresh spike in cases in the Caucasus nation despite the start of a vaccine rollout.
“I am feeling well,”
Garibashvili, 38, said on Facebook. “I am in self-isolation and continuing to
work remotely.”
On Tuesday, Georgia registered
897 new coronavirus cases — three times the average number of daily infections
recorded over the past months.
Overall, the Black Sea nation
of some four million people has registered more than 275,000 coronavirus cases
and 3,832 deaths, the health ministry said.
In mid-March, Georgia began a national vaccination campaign by inoculating medical workers with AstraZeneca’s jab.
In addition to some 43,000
doses of AstraZeneca provided through the Covax vaccine-sharing programme,
Georgia also received enough doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine to inoculate
some 14,000 people.
More than 11,600 people have
been vaccinated so far, director of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease
Control, Amiran Gamkrelidze, told journalists on Monday.
He said the rollout “needs to
be accelerated”.
The authorities in Georgia
have so far ruled out any further anti-virus curbs.
Deputy Health Minister Tamar
Gabunia said on Monday there was “no need at this point” for further
anti-pandemic restrictions.
In May last year, Georgia
lifted its coronavirus lockdown and allowed shops to reopen, but a night-time
curfew has remained in place.