The National Rapid Response Team has been deployed to Kano State in northern Nigeria by the Federal Government to unravel the mystery of a strange illness in the state.
The Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The team will also manage victims of the illness which has infected over 200 persons with four dead.
The strange disease is confirmed in 13 local government areas, including eight metropolitan councils in the state.
Ihekweazu said the Kano State Ministry of Health reported a cluster of cases in 13 LGAs within the state with most of the cases having fever, vomiting, yellowish eyes and abdominal pain as symptoms.
The NCDC boss said the agency had also collected additional human and environmental samples for metagenomic sequencing – a method for detecting rare new causes of illness.
Meanwhile, the disease agency has warned travelers to be mindful of fake Covid-19 test,
The agency said there are accredited labs, which they could find on the NCDC website.
By Hussein Jama
March 24, 2021
