Two people have died and 183 have been hospitalized in Kano on suspicion of food poisoning.
The state ministry of Health verified that the patients present had symptoms of hematuria, which caused bloody or dark urine, fever, lethargy, and sometimes jaundice.
Patients are said to have consumed a drink in the form of an expired citric acid powdered drink. The state health Commissioner Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa said the infection had spread to 13 LGAs in the state.
He said 284 people had been infected and 101 had been released and 183 were being treated.
The Ministry of Health’s task force said it contained several substances that contributed to the spread of the disease.
Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Joint Border Monitoring Group Sector 4 Command Coordinator, Aliu Mohammed, has warned that expired citric acid beverages are being circulated.
He said the products are popular in the market as they are on the verge of Ramadan. He said they seized 84 cartons of the products which have expired since 2019.
“Fasting will soon come. The people now have the habit of importing very expired items. These are the flavours. Any man who performs his fasting in the evening will like something very delicious but these things have expired since 2019,” Mohammed said.
“We have arrested about 624 pieces in each carton and we have 84 cartons.”
“These symptoms are classical of ongoing haemolysis (breakage of red blood cells) and bleeding” Bashar Lawan, an epidemiologist with the state health ministry, told reporters on Tuesday.
The first documented patient was the case of a six-year-old, this event was confirmed On March 6, 2021. At first, we suspected viral hemorrhagic fever but the test results were negative for yellow fever and last fever from the National Reference Laboratory. But we are still waiting for a dengue fever test. The state government has provided a list of hospitals assigned to treat infected patients.
Hospitals include Aminu Cano Training Hospital (ACTH), Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital and Infectious Diseases Hospital.
Others include Sheikh K Jida Hospital, Wazi Shehu Gidado Hospital, Rano General Hospital and two hospitals in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area.
Lawan said the epidemic had spread to eight small regions, including Gwale, Kano Municipal, Dala, Bunkure, Fagge, Gwarzo and Dawakin Tofa.
He said a water sample was taken from Dandolo Cemetery to determine other possible causes.
He added that they had decayed citric acid and samples of decayed citric acid with NAFDAC for laboratory tests and that four other technical answers had been taken for heavy metals and leptospirosis investigation.
“their men are currently conducting shop to shop operation in the market,” a source told theCable.
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