President Of Youth Council In Benue Calls For Immediate Government Intervention As Strange Disease Death Toll Rises To 11
The death toll of “strange disease” that broke out in Benue state since January 30 has reportedly killed more than 10 persons.
The President-elect of the Igede National Youth Council, Mr. Andyson Egbodo, who had alerted Punch News about the incident on January 30, said the problem has persisted since he contacted newsmen but Benue state government has kept mute over the incident ever since.
There are presently a lot of uncertainty surrounding the “strange disease,” as some news outlet claim the yet-to-be-ascertained disease had killed 15 so far, but Mr Egbodo insists that he only knew of 11 fatalities so far.
Read Also: Senate Raises Alarm As Strange Epidemic Kills 15 In Benue
In a statement made available to PUNCH HealthWise on Tuesday, Egbodo had expressed displeasure over the Benue government’s failure to unravel the cause of the strange illness which he said was still killing people at Oye-Obi community, in Obi Local Government Area of the state.
In his statement, Egbodo alleged that;
Two weeks after the state government picked two out of over 50 sick persons with the same case definition, there has been no categorical statement issued by the government with regard to the clinical investigations conducted so far.
He added that;
About six deaths have occurred in the last two weeks. Add that to the first four and note that several others are still down in pitiable inhuman condition, some in acutely insufficient private medical facility located in the area and the others helplessly in their houses waiting for death.
The President-elect while calling on Benue state government stated that;
All of them are manifesting same symptoms. How long will it take the government to tell us what is about to wipe out the entire settlement of Oye-Obi and the nature of the sickness, so that we can begin to mount hedges against its spread if it is contagious?
He called on the Benue State Government to “rise up to the Oye-Obi health challenge” to stop the high death rate in the area.
Egbodo commended Senator Moro for drawing the attention of the Senate to the strange ailment, urging the lawmaker representing the constituency at the Federal House of Representatives, Samson Okwu, to do same on the floor of the House “as a public matter of urgent importance.”
It would be recalled that last week, the Senator representing Benue South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Abba Moro, had raised the motion about the disease during a Senate resolution.
The resolution from the Senate urged the country’s health ministry to dispatch experts to the centre of the outbreak to find out more about the disease.
It also called for the Nigeria Centers for Disease Control (NCDC) to establish surveillance measures to contain its spread.
However, ever since the resolution, there has been no news about what the disease is all about and the only established information is infected victims only show symptoms of vomiting, swelling and diarrhea.
