Seven persons who have suffered from suspected food poisoning have been confirmed dead by the Sokoto State Ministry of Health on Sunday.
In a statement signed by the Information Officer of the ministry, Nura Bello explained that the seven individuals had died after consuming a meal that was produced from cassava in Runjin Barmo village in Kajiji District in the Shagari Local Government Area of the state.
The ministry’s information officer explained that the community head of Runjin Barmo village in Kajiji District in the Shagari Local Government Area had told the ministry’s health delegation that the family had consumed the alleged opinions meal for dinner before the unfortunate incident took place.
The statement revealed the identity of the victims, including their father, Malam Abubakar, his wife, A’ishatu Abubakar, and their five children.
The statement revealed that the suspected food poisoning happened on Wednesday, and the efforts of the ministry to confirm the cause of the deaths are still abortive.
Explaining further, the village head noted the death stage to the community, noting that the cassava that was consumed by the affected family was also consumed by other families in the community, but no case of fatality or illness has been recorded in the other families that consumed the food.
Responding to the representative of the Ministry of Health, Balarabe explained that their visit to the community was for an on-the-spot assessment to determine the causes of the deaths of the seven family members and report to the government for quick action.
It was revealed that samples will be taken from the other children in the community who had consumed the same meal but are still alive for laboratory assessment.
She advised the residents to be proactive and report every incident of a strange and severe disease outbreak in their community to the Ministry of Health for prompt intervention, which will save more lives in the state.
The government representative, on behalf of the state governor, commiserated with the families of the victims and prayed for the peaceful rest of the dead.
The commissioner said the ministry would take samples from one teenager who happened to be alive after eating the suspected cassava meal.
On behalf of the state governor, she condoled with the people over the incident and prayed to Allah to forgive those who lost their lives.
The Director of Health for Shagari Local Government Area, Sani Bello Tambuwal, appreciated the commissioner for the prompt response regarding the outbreak in the state and hopes such efforts will be sustained to save more lives in the community and around the state.
The village head appreciated the governor and the state, Dr Ahmed Aliyu for his effort in curtailing the health problem in the community
Other individuals who were with the commissioner on the response visit were the Executive Director, the State Hospital Services Management Board, Dr Bello Abubakar Attahiru, some directors, and other ministry staff members.
Sokoto state has become the third in the country to experience an incident of food poisoning in less than ten days; Kwara and Nasarawa have recorded Four and five deaths, respectively, in the past week.
