Nigeria: Panic As Ondo Unknown Disease Deaths Hit 25

On Thursday, April 16, 2015, the Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju called a press conference in Akure, the state capital, where he announced the outbreak of an unknown disease which had claimed about eighteen lives the previous day in Ode-Irele area. While confirming the figure, he also said four people were isolated at the General Hospital, Ode-Irele, the headquarters of Irele Local Government, where the disease broke.

As at the time of filing this report, the casualty figure was said to have risen to 25 and residents in the area, according to investigations, have started fleeing in panic.

Adeyanju at the briefing said investigations carried out on the victims did not reveal symptoms of the dreaded Ebola virus but that the state government had moved into the area to curtail its spread. The symptoms, he said, include headache and loss of sight. He revealed that victim does not last more than twelve hours after manifestation of the symptoms. He stressed that for Ebola Virus disease (EVD) there were usually symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting and haemorrhage.

On Thursday, April 16, 2015, the Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju called a press conference in Akure, the state capital, where he announced the outbreak of an unknown disease which had claimed about eighteen lives the previous day in Ode-Irele area. While confirming the figure, he also said four people were isolated at the General Hospital, Ode-Irele, the headquarters of Irele Local Government, where the disease broke.

As at the time of filing this report, the casualty figure was said to have risen to 25 and residents in the area, according to investigations, have started fleeing in panic.

Adeyanju at the briefing said investigations carried out on the victims did not reveal symptoms of the dreaded Ebola virus but that the state government had moved into the area to curtail its spread. The symptoms, he said, include headache and loss of sight. He revealed that victim does not last more than twelve hours after manifestation of the symptoms. He stressed that for Ebola Virus disease (EVD) there were usually symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting and haemorrhage.

Another resident, Olatimehin Igbekele, also revealed that those who died were mainly youths suspected to have defiled the Malokun shrine. He said he knew some of the victims. Speaking from oral tradition, Olatimehin said the stolen artefact was a female, saying the result would have been more devastating if it was the male.

It was also gathered that elders and leaders of the community were subsequently summoned while the traditionalists and priest of the deity were told to appease the gods and plead for mercy on behalf of those who were not party to the crime or directly involved but got in contact with those who perpetrated it.

The Chief Priest of Malokun shrine, High Chief Lemo, confirmed that the Kabiyesi or traditional ruler of the town had called them to say that some people broke into the shrine and removed the cloth covering the deity and normally that singular act is against tradition. He said he was told that those who saw it went blind. He said the people of the community will appease the gods as tradition demands.

Senator-elect representing Ondo South senatorial district, Pastor Yele Omogunwa in a telephone interview said he heard different versions of the story. According to him, while some attributed it to money-making rituals, others blamed it on the defilement of the Malokun shrine. "Those who died were young people and it has not affected any female or elderly person, only the age bracket of inordinately ambitious people, so it is mysterious," he said.

An official of the state Ministry of Health, Dr. Femi Okunjemiruwa dismissed the possibility of a spiritual link to the killer disease, saying it should be disregarded.

The state Health Commissioner gave assurances that government would do everything possible to control the outbreak. He said samples taken from the victims had been sent to Lagos for proper investigation as the source of the disease remains unknown. Government, also, is engaged in advocacy to ensure new cases are reported as concealment could be devastating. He also advised relations of the victims against burying corpses at home.

The commissioner also said the State Disease Surveillance team that was used during the outbreak of Ebola in the country has been deployed to control the outbreak. But for now, the mass exodus of people from the affected area continues even as government battles to understand the disease.