Twenty students have reportedly died from a suspected outbreak of meningitis in three boarding secondary schools in Potiskum and Fika Local Government Areas of Yobe State.
Yobe State government officials told journalists that “20 students have been confirmed dead in the last few weeks from the suspected meningitis.”
They however explained that the government is doing what it can to ensure that the disease does not escalate.
Governor Mai Mala Buni represented by his Deputy, Idi Barde-Gubana visited the affected schools and said the government has already provided emergency treatment drugs and deployed a rapid response team to the areas.
The Permanent Secretary of the State’s Ministry of Health, Isa Bukar, told the visiting team that 214 cases have been recorded and that the three patients under intensive care were responding to treatment.
There was a similar outbreak in a community in Fika Local Government Area of the State which killed many people in April 2023.
Editor: Ken Eseni