An outbreak of a strange disease at Ode-Irele area of Ondo State has claimed the lives of 14 persons.
Already, the state government and the World Health Organization have sent representatives to the community.
Also, the Personnel Protective Equipment purchased by the government for Ebola cases and their handlers had been deployed to the area.
The outbreak was noticed on Wednesday and 12 people reportedly died same day. Four others were rushed to the hospital yesterday and two of them gave up the ghost.
Some natives of the town alleged that the gods of the community were offended.
However, the state Health Commissioner, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, who led a delegation to the area, said the reason given by the natives could not be scientifically proved.
Dr. Adeyanju confirmed that 12 persons had died due to the strange disease, while reports reaching him was that two others, out of the four quarantined, had also died.
He said: “Investigations did not reveal symptoms of Ebola,” adding that the state government had moved into the area to curtail spread of the strange disease.
The preliminary report, he said, showed that the dead persons complained of headache and later lost their sight before they died.
He stated that it was not a case of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.
According to him, “there were no cases of diarrhoea, vomiting and haemorrhage that are usual symptoms of the dreaded EVD.”
The commissioner said government would do everything possible to control the strange ailment, adding that World Health Organization, WHO, and other partners were already involved in the matter.
He said: “Samples taken from the victims have been sent to Lagos for proper investigation, while government had been engaging in advocacy to ensure that new cases are reported,” adding that concealment could be devastating.
Dr. Adeyanju asked relations of the victims not to bury the corpse of the affected people at home. He said they should take the dead to the cemetery and to take precautions during their burials.
He said the state government would have recovered the dead bodies from the affected families had the state a cremation law.
He said the state Disease Surveillance Team and volunteers engaged during the Ebola cases had been deployed to the area to control the ailment.
He warned against sensatio-nalizing the issues in the social media to avoid creating tension among the people.
He appealed to the people to rely only on official statements from the state government.
Meanwhile, many people have moved out of the area for fear of the strange disease.
