No fewer than nine children have died as gastroenteritis outbreak, commonly known as inflammation of the stomach and intestines, hits Damangaza community in the Federal Capital Territory.
This was made known by the executive secretary of the FCT Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, at the weekend in Abuja.
Speaking to Nigerian Pilot, Mohammed said that there was an outbreak of gastroenteritis which had killed at least nine children in the Hawusawa community in Damangaza village.
He said that the first case of the epidemic was on June 15 when a seven-year-old girl died from the inflammatory disease.
According to the FCT PHCDB boss, there are 41 cases out of which nine victims died.
“There are nine deaths and 41 cases; some of them are undergoing operations at Asokoro District Hospital.

All victims are suffering from abdominal distension (enlargement), fever and diarrhoea, although we are yet to take the diagnosis but we have taken the samples to Asokoro Hospital, Centre for Disease Control, the University of Ibadan and Maitama Hospital to ascertain the diagnosis,” he explained.

Speaking on the cause of the disease outbreak, Mohammed said that the environments wre very dirty with no adequate supply of clean water.

“They have two boreholes to service the community but they buy kegs of water for 20 naira so the villagers prefer to fetch water from their stream which is very dirty.

They don’t have electricity to maintain the boreholes so they prefer to use the stream water.’’
“When the FCT PHCB was informed that there are cases in this community we carried out interventions to sensitize the people on clean environment, teach them how to use clean and boiled water during epidemics and to wash their hands before and after eating and visiting the toilet; in addition to breastfeeding of their children,” he said.
Mohammed said that World Health Organization, WHO, and FCT Department of Public Health had mobilised a camp at Damangaza Hawusawa community with doctors at the local government to attend to sick patients and to carry out HIV/AIDS and malaria screening services for indigenes.
Furthermore, Mohammed said, “We provided Vitamin A, worn expeller for the children with immunisation including injectibles polio immunisation vaccines for all eligible children, adding that are gaps in that area because some of them are from the Internally Displaced Persons camps from the insecurity zones.
“A road show was organised by the healthcare board in conjunction with WHO to create awareness on exclusive breastfeeding in the communities as work show from Parade ground to Area 1 Shopping Complex,” he concluded.