By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Sokoto
The Sokoto State Government has confirmed the death of 33 children following an outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in parts of the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Faruk Abubakar, disclosed this on Wednesday during an advocacy meeting with district heads on SARMAAN and MNTE programmes.
The meeting was organised by the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency in collaboration with Sightsavers and the Chigari Foundation.
Dr. Abubakar said the state had so far recorded 256 suspected cases of the disease across eight local government areas.
According to him, Sabon Birni Local Government Area recorded the highest number of cases with 63, followed by Wamakko with 60, Shagari with 51, Tambuwal with 33 and Dange Shuni with 26 cases.
He added that Kebbe recorded 16 cases, while Bodinga, Gada and Kware reported two, one and two cases respectively.
The commissioner explained that many of the deaths occurred within communities before victims could be taken to hospitals, blaming the situation on delayed medical attention and widespread misconceptions about the disease.
He said some residents wrongly believed meningitis was caused by spiritual forces rather than a serious medical condition requiring urgent treatment.
To contain the outbreak, the state government, in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), established isolation centres at the General Hospitals in Dogo Daji and Tambuwal, with separate wards for male and female patients.
Dr. Abubakar disclosed that laboratory samples collected from suspected patients showed that about 20 cases tested positive for meningitis, while others returned negative or inconclusive results, adding that no new deaths had been recorded since the government intensified intervention and treatment efforts.
