The Enugu State Government has confirmed the cause of deaths in Ette Uno and Umuopu communities of Enugu Ezike as yellow fever.
Recently, both communities in Enugu Ezike town, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area witnessed death of her people from strange unknown ailments.
To unravel the cause of the mysterious deaths, the Enugu State Ministry of Health in collaboration with the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, investigated the matter of urgent public health importance which revealed an outbreak of yellow fever.
“The disease was confirmed as yellow fever through verifiable diagnostic tests,” Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, State Commissioner for Health stated.
“Yellow Fever is not a new disease but one of public health importance internationally and in Nigeria; it is one of the diseases controlled for in the Nigerian set of routine and mass immunizable diseases,” Obi explained.
“A suspected case is anyone with a sudden onset of fever who develops jaundice (yellowness of the eyes) within 14 days. This is verifiable by diagnostic tests,” Obi disclosed.
“An Emergency Operations Centre Meeting with representatives from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other implementing partners in the state is organized to articulate specific next steps to effectively respond to and control this disease in Igboeze North LGA, and prevent its spread in Enugu State,”
“We are collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health and with nearby states to prevent its spread within Nigeria. The General Hospital Enugu Ezike and other hospitals in the state are prepared to provide the supportive treatment needed for Yellow Fever,” the Commissioner revealed.
Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes; mosquitoes of the Aedes and Haemogogus species. A small proportion of patients who contract the virus develop severe symptoms and approximately half of those die within 7 to 10 days.
Epidemics of yellow fever occur when infected people introduce the virus into heavily populated areas with high mosquito density and where most people have little or no immunity, due to lack of vaccination. In these conditions, infected mosquitoes of the Aedes aegypti species transmit the virus from person to person.
A small percentage of patients, however, enter a second, more toxic phase within 24 hours of recovering from initial symptoms. High fever returns and several body systems are affected, usually the liver and the kidneys. In this phase people are likely to develop jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes, hence the name ‘yellow fever’), dark urine and abdominal pain with vomiting.
Bleeding can occur from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach. Half of the patients who enter the toxic phase die within 7 – 10 days.
Obi called on the people to continue in earnest hygienic practices; keep our surroundings clean and free of overgrown bushes, ensure that you do not allow containers and gutters with stagnant water so as to disallow breeding of mosquitoes; We should protect our homes by screening doors and windows with nets, and ourselves by sleeping under mosquito nets and wearing clothes that limit mosquito bites.
“Most of all, if you recognize the above symptoms in yourself or a loved one, please visit the nearest hospital,” Obi advised.
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