Bonny Local government area of Rivers State has said the cases of mysterious deaths in some parts of the area is due to drug-resistant malaria pathogens.
The council’s reaction followed reports of mass death in the domain which sparked panic during the weekend.
In statement issued by the LGA and jointly signed by Wariopusenibo Omoni LongJohn, Secretary of the Local Government and Elder Pafuro Tolofari, the Supervisor for Health, it said reports of mass death are not true and unfounded.
Residents had during the weekend raised the alarm over the mysterious deaths in parts of the LGA, with the victims said to be exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms.
Some of the residents who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity claimed that over 6 persons have died while families are burying their loved ones secretly.
But the LGA said there has been an increase in drugs resistance malaria in the past two weeks on the Island with spike in the cases of typhoid fever in the said period.
“About 50% of the patients also complain of dizziness, bitterness in the mouth, lack of a sense of taste and smell.
” There are some few patients with complains of only loss of sense of taste and smell.
“The resistance to normal malaria drugs results in patients returning almost immediately with the same symptoms complain, resulting in the administration of intravenous injections.
” This treatment shows 100% improvement in the health of the patients”.
The LGA, however, said that patients with loss of taste and smell are given allergy drugs, and they reported improvement, as majority of them do not show symptoms of cough and catarrh.
“There have been no deaths as a result of these illnesses in any of the hospitals/Clinics on the Island in the past one month.
” There has been less than 6 in-patient deaths in all the hospital/clinics on the Island in the past two weeks and they all have chronic medical history.
” There are cases of about 6 cases of dead patients brought to the hospital/clinics for confirmation. They also have compromised health situations before hand, on inquiry to their families by the doctors.
” The rumours of high death rates in Bonny are unfounded, and may not be too far from the fact that the mortuaries are filled as a result of the ban on Public Burial in the state, resulting in bereaved families making calls to all and sundry informing them of the plan to bury their deceased loved ones almost immediately.
“The contaminated Bonny air/atmosphere have a lot to do with the sudden loss of sense of smell, and further investigation shall be done to ascertain the actual level of the toxicity of the air we breath in Bonny, hence the use of facemask is crucial”
The LGA further said that there is high need for Bonny residents to take the first line of responsibility for their personal health by cleaning and clearing their drainages and environment, and use mosquito treated nets for sleeping.
“There is high need to practice personal hygiene at all times and observe WHO public health requirements, especially Social Distancing in Bonny Kingdom and wearing of facemasks.
” Persons with the above symptoms should immediately report to the nearest health facility as self medication is highly discouraged. Individuals should eat balanced nutrition and practice regular exercises.
” Bonny Local Government shall continue to work with our King and Natural Ruler, as well as the Bonny Chiefs Council to ensure we have a safe and healthy society”
