The Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade has revealed that the strange ailment which has reportedly killed about 14 people in the state may not be unconnected to a corpse which was exhumed in the community.
Akinmade, who spoke with newsmen, doused fears that the disease may be Ebola, although it manages to kill victims within 24 hours.
Akinmade also debunked claims that as many as 34 people had died from the illness. adding that the State Commissioner for Health, Dayo Akinyanju would make a broadcast to address the ugly development.
He said: “The symptoms were not that of Ebola; it’s a 24-hour attack that would make the victim to have headache, be unconscious, then after 24 hours, the person is gone. That one cannot be Ebola
“All the necessary facility that government should provide, government has done that. We have moved all the ambulances and everything.
“Available data do not indicate that 34 people have died – only 14. And from what we got, the 14 had personal contacts with those people who came to exhume the corpse that led to this epidemic.”
Echoing Akinmade’s remarks was the State Permanent Secretary for protocol, Soji Gbadebo, who said the government was doing everything possible to bring the situation under control.
Gbadebo said: “There is a general allusion that there was a – there was something buried there (Ode Irele) and some people went there to exhume the thing, and sold it to these English people.
“Only those who were directly involved have been affected by this epidemic.
“Meanwhile, government has sent powerful health team there to unravel the mystery, so, for now, we may not know what actually happened until a scientific report unfolds it.”
It was gathered that the Ondo State government has deployed equipment purchased for the prevention and control of Ebola Virus Disease in the state to isolate victims of the yet-to-be-named illness, which symptoms include: Headache, loss of sight and death.
Samples from victims have been collected and sent to laboratories for investigation, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been informed.
