By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has confirmed the outbreak of Diptheria disease in the territory, with at least one person, reported to have died from the disease.
The latest development brings to 21, the number of states confirmed to have recorded at least, one case of the bacterial disease.
Confirming the outbreak of Diptheria in Abuja, the Director, FCT Department of Public Health, Dr. Sadiq Abdulrahman, said eight suspected cases was recorded at Tungan-Wakili community of Deidei, where a four old boy reportedly died from the disease.
Abdulrahman, who clarified that the deceased was an imported case from Kano state, said the FCTA has since commenced contact tracing of the suspected cases and mapping of the communities in order to prevent further spread of the bacterial disease.
“Two weeks ago we got from a community within the FCT of about 8 suspected cases which triggered our team to pick some samples which were taken to the National Reference Laboratory Gaduwa and the NCDC. As at Friday afternoon the results came out. Out of the eight suspected cases, one came out positive and one has died.
“By the World Health Organisation standard, one case of Diptheria is considered an outbreak and that is why we are here for the briefing.”
He said the FCT has activated its Emergency Response since January 2023, when the NCDC sent out a national alert on the outbreak of Diptheria in three states of Lagos, Kano and Ondo respectively.
“Already, meetings of key stakeholders holders has commenced since Saturday. Our team under the respective pillars of Surveillance, Laboratory, Logistics, Coordination and awareness creation are all active.
“Community awareness is also ongoing alongside our partners to strengthen the contact tracing of all these cases, mapping the communities. Specifically, the community is in Deidei bordered between AMAC and Bwari. The case is localised in a community known as Tungan-Wakili in Deidei.
“Available information confirm that these are imported cases. The residents there are mixed with displaced person from the North because of insecurity. They confirmed to us that they had not taken the vaccine.
“Diptheria is one of the vaccine preventable cases. Ideally we shouldn’t have witnessed any case if the vaccine is effective and the coverage done properly,” he said.
The Director assured that the FCT Administration would strengthen the momentum by ensuring that every resident knows about this disease and the precautionary measures to take in preventing contacting the disease.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Isa Vasta, decried situation where people default on getting themselves and children vaccinated.
“We have to embark on high level awareness campaign because we don’t know how many more people are coming from Kano where we have cases.”
Diptheria is a bacterial infection that affects the mucous membranes of the nose and attacks the respiratory system. Symptoms include difficulty in breathing, sneezing, fever, swelling of the eyes, among others. The disease is transmitted from person to person through cough droplets, surface contact, etc.