Zamfara Dismisses Ebola Rumours As Death Toll From Yet-to-Be Verified Disease Hits 30

Zamfara State epidemiologist, Dr Ahmad Muhammad Gusau, has dismissed reports of an Ebola outbreak in Shinkafi local government area of the state.

He said the yet-to-be established illness presents malaria-like symptoms.

Gusau, who spoke exclusively with LEADERSHIP yesterday, said about 30 deaths had been recorded since the onset of the disease, but added that the fatalities may not be directly linked to the current illness.

Gusau said the Ministry of Health sent a rapid response team to Shinkafi on Sunday under his permission to verify the claims.

“People said patients are lying on the floor. It is not true. We did not see that. The medical director told us he even has surplus unused bed spaces,” Gusau said.

He said no patient has so far presented bleeding, a cardinal symptom of Ebola and other viral haemorrhagic fevers.

“Nobody has bled. We asked the MD, he said he has not received any patient with bleeding. So, we advise people not to blow up information just to create panic,” he said.

According to him, all cases seen presented with malaria-like symptoms, and samples have been collected and sent to the National Reference Laboratory for confirmation.

“We have taken samples and sent them to the National Reference Laboratory to verify whether it is dengue fever or chikungunya or other febrile illnesses.

“Probably by today or tomorrow, the final result should be out because we cannot make a pronouncement until the laboratory confirms,” he said.

Dr Gusau explained that some of the deaths recorded had co-morbidities and may not be attributable to the strange disease alone.

“The presentation and the mortality cannot be directly related to the symptoms they are presenting. Some present with diabetes, some with hypertension and other chronic diseases,” he noted.

He said the Ministry has already supplied drugs, relief materials and other medical consumables to Shinkafi General Hospital to manage patients, while surveillance has been intensified.

He urged residents to improve environmental hygiene and health-seeking behaviour, lamenting that late presentation was worsening outcomes.

“People stay passive in their homes. They will not come to hospital. They invite people to treat them inside their houses. By the time they present to the health facility, the condition has already deteriorated,” he said.

Dr Gusau dismissed insinuations of a cover-up, insisting the state government has no reason to hide any outbreak.

“Why would we hide Ebola? What gain do we have in hiding Ebola, which is a disease of international concern? When disease happens, we should respond to it and prevent its spread. Government does not accept hiding the reality of a situation,” he added.