Yellow Fever Outbreak Kills 16 In Ebonyi

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health in Ebonyi state, Dr. Chris Achi, has confirmed the death of 16 persons in a yellow fever outbreak in the state, to journalists on Friday in Abakaliki.

According to Achi, the outbreak occurred in the Izzi Local Government Area, with several other patients receiving treatment at the Virology Centre and Iboko General Hospital in the state.

He further stated that the outbreak had started since July 2019 in the local government and efforts have since been on to avoid further spread.

Achi, however, blamed the death of the 16 persons to the patronage of quacks and use of herbs to treat the disease.

“I sent our rapid response team to visit the place, lo and behold when they got there, it was a case of yellow fever and unfortunately, we have had about 15 deaths from the place.

“So we moved to the place, conducted case search. Those who already had the symptom, we moved them to the health facility at Ndungele and when it was serious, we moved some to the general hospital at Iboko and virology centre here in Abakaliki.”

“But the problem with the outbreak was that our people did not believe that they should go to the hospital when they experience yellowness of the eyes. They believe that they can be treated with local herbs,  that’s why we recorded causalities.”

Meanwhile, he said the Federal Ministry of Health and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had been alerted and had already responded to ensure there was no reoccurrence.

“We are equally doing much to ensure that it does not spread to the capital city. Yellow fever is not transmitted from human to human. It can only be transmitted through mosquitoes,” he said.