Suspected outbreak of a viral disease identified as Gastroenteritis has been discovered in some parts of Ogun State.
The disease which is also known as stomach flu according to the state government broke out in Magboro, Ofada area of Obafemi-Owode Local Government the State.
The State Ministry of Health informed that the disease is spreading among okada riders and scavengers in the environment.
Nigerian Newstrack was told that viral gastroenteritis is an intestinal infection marked by watery diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes fever.
Healthy people who have the disease may recover without complications. However, medical practitioners say it could be “deadly” for infants, older adults and people with compromised immune systems.
The disease is usually caused by contact with an infected person or by ingesting contaminated food or water.
Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Tomi Coker, while confirming the outbreak of gastroenteritis in a statement, said the reported cases “were predominant among commercial motorcyclists and scavengers in the area.”
She explained that the index case was said to have recently returned from a trip outside Ogun State and that she has been linked to the source of the outbreak.
The health commissioner said a public toilet was the channel of transmission, adding that the toilet has been sealed up for sanitation.
According to her “the causative agent cannot be confirmed yet because appropriate sample could not be collected as there was no active case yet to commence antibiotics,” she said.
She also disclosed that a number of people “are currently receiving treatment to control the number of casualties.”
The commissioner blamed an unregistered clinic being run by a quack as having contributed to the outbreak, regretting that cases were being managed unreported.
Meanwhile, Coker informed that the state government has set up a treatment centre at the Magboro-Akeran Health Centre, where curative items have been made available by the Department of Public Health.
Adjourning communities had been sensitised on what to do and where to seek care or report any suspicious cases, she said.
