Unidentified fast killing disease appears in Nigeria

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In relation to the ethanol/herbicide/pesticide hypothesis being promoted in the MSM, Ebola Alert (a Nigerian NGO) tweeted:

We've spoken with colleagues (Nigerian CDC), there is no confirmation of ethanol nor herbicides.
Source

Whether this means that there is more testing required or not it shows how the MSM is used to calm a situation with nothing more than an hypothesis.

-- Pan

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Ebola Alert notified on the 17th the following:



That is why the possibility of (m)ethanol, herbicide, pesticide in the samples from the dead is being examined as poisoning appears the most likely explanation.

-- Pan

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Just to fill in some of the blanks to do with this.

From a statement given by the Health Commissioner:

According to the commissioner, preliminary report showed ethanol poison found in the systems of all the victims.

“Our investigations revealed that the victims, who are commercial motorcyclists, gathered at some local joints to take alcoholic substance mixed with roots and some other local herbs on the eve of the outbreak of the disease.

“I can assure you that the disease is in no way contagious. The fact that none of the caregivers has contracted the disease has greatly underscored this point.

“Therefore, the fear of spread does not arise and should be discouraged.

“We strongly suspect ethanol poison and in view of this, we have ordered for another toxicology test for surviving victims,” Mr. Adeyanju said.

Source

Waiting for a confirmation statement.

Strange that the Nigerian CDC said to Ebola Alert that there wasn't any evidence to say it was ethanol related after Dr Dayo Adeyanju is quoted as saying it was.

-- Pan

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At a press conference Dr. Akinola Fatiregun is reported as having just said that while they are still waiting for test results all indicators are that the deaths occurred as a result of consuming a locally brewed gin.

It is also reported that he made it clear that reports of pesticide or herbicide poisoning did not originate from WHO Nigeria.

Source

-- Pan

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From the OdonTV FB page a brief description of the latest press conference.

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Ondo Govt Wants Residents To Stop Drinking Alcohol
20th April 2015



Ondo state government has warned against the consumption of local gin, known as ogogoro following discovery that victims of the Irele strange disease could have died from possible methanol poisoning after consuming the drink.

The state health commissioner, Dr Dayo Adeyanju, who gave the warning while briefing newsmen on the Irele update alongside his information counterpart, Kayode Akinmade, at the governor's office in Akure said the casualty figure remains 18 dead and 5 receiving treatment at UCH, Ibadan.

Dr Adeyanju said government has begun sensitisation on why people should avoid taking all manner of local gin at this period since its still difficult to trace the source of the alcholic substance taken by some of the Ode irele victims.

He said the state government is on top of the situation assuring that the final report on the investigations into the mysterious deaths, especially the toxicology test would soon be made public.

Also speaking at the briefing, the state coordinator of WHO, Dr Akinola Fatigerun dissociated the organisation from its earlier reports that the victims died from pesticide but methanol poisoning.

Source

[Mini Flash]

We will only hear this on the canadian (where I come from) and americain news if this disease comes to our continent.. It's sad that most people don't care if it doesn't affect them.

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Unidentified disease outbreak not infectious - Minister of Health assures Nigerians


Minister of State for Health flanked by the Director of Public Health and the WHO Country Representative in Nigeria

Abuja, 20 April 2015 - The Minister of State for Health, Mr. Fidelis Nwankwo has debunked the rumors of unidentified disease outbreak which is attributed to 19 deaths since 15th April 2015, out of 24 reported cases. He further provided insights on the causes of illness and sudden deaths in two communities of Irele, Local Government Area (LGA) in Ondo State of Nigeria.

On 15th April when the disease was first reported, health officials from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), government agencies (including the Nigeria Center for Disease Control) and experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) were deployed to Irele, LGA in south-western Nigeria to investigate rumors of the unidentified disease outbreak.

The Minister in his speech at a press briefing held at the conference hall of the FMOH in Abuja on Monday 20 April, also disclosed that as at the time of the briefing “no new cases have been reported in the past 100 hours and no related mortality in the last 72 hours. We therefore believe that the situation is under control”.

He also stated that preliminary epidemiological and laboratory investigations indicate that the disease is not attributed to any infectious disease.

According to the Minister, “epidemiological findings indicate a strong linkage of the outbreak with the consumption of local gin that might have been contaminated with methanol”. He however added that laboratory investigation is ongoing.

Mr. Nwankwo requested the journalists to use their media outfits to create more awareness and encourage the public to remain calm but vigilant and continue to report any events of public health concern to the nearest health authorities.

Also speaking at the press briefing, the WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Rui Gama Vaz commended the Ondo state government for the rapid response and the immediate deployment of its epidemiological structure to investigate and mitigate the situation.

Dr Vaz assured the Minister and the public that “WHO will continue to provide technical support to the FMOH and related agencies, to strengthen surveillance at community level for early case identification; the associated risk factors and to create awareness to avert similar situations in future”.

Available records showed that the reported cases were among males, between the ages of 20 and 75 years old. Equally, 71% had history of having consumed locally brewed gin and were farmers. Symptoms of the unidentified disease include sudden blurred vision, headache, and loss of consciousness followed by death, all occurring within 24 hours of onset.

Source

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Here's a really good report from France News 24 reporter Brenna Daldorph.

In the article both the local community information officer and a pastor (originally from the village) give a better indication of the local environ.

What I'm unsure about with all this is that the information coming out (via State agencies) seems to be all over the place.

Also, 70% of those "infected" had a history of drinking "ogogoro" [the locally distilled gin]? What does that even mean? Is it a history of heavy drinking or just of consumption? When did they drink it? Is there any evidence that was the cause of the "illness"? What about the other 30%? Where they teatotalers? Occasional drinkers?

Just weird information that just seems to be designed to defuse a situation.

Anyhow, here's the France 24 article.

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Nigerians seek answer for ‘mysterious’ deadly illness
France News 24. 20th April 2015


Women in Ode Irele carry water to the Malokun shrine as part of an atonement and sacrifice ritual to local gods after a strange ailment claimed many lives in the town last week,
(Photo from the Facebook account of Olademehin Tayo, Community Information Officer).

Last week, at least 23 people fell ill with a ‘mysterious’ illness in Ode Irele, Nigeria. Eighteen of those people died and panic ensued. Many locals had a theory—that the sickness was the result of an injustice committed against a local goddess. Thanks to a quick and thoughtful response, however, local health authorities seem close to solving the mystery.

When news first broke of the sudden deaths of over a dozen people in Ode Irele in Ondo State last Wednesday, people initially panicked that Ebola had popped up in Nigeria, especially when fake photos starting circulating of a man with a ghastly rash. Preliminary results quickly established that the illness was not Ebola, not a virus, not contagious and not an infection.

On Sunday, a spokesman for the World Health organization, Gregory Härtl, tweeted that the likely cause was herbicide poisoning.

However, on Monday, when questioned, the spokesman told FRANCE 24 that alcohol poisoning may be “another possibility.”

In the meantime, many local people responded to the panic by paying homage to a local goddess who they believe lashed out after a robbery in her temple occurred last week.


Locals participate in a ceremony honoring a local goddess on April 16, 2015 after the series of strange deaths in Ode-Irele.
(Photo from the Facebook account of Olademehin Tayo, Community Information Officer).

“Most of the local people, including my family, believe that the illness is happening because someone disrespected the goddess”

Adekanmi Igbekele is a pastor who grew up in Ode-Irele. He recently learned that a member of his extended family was one of the victims of the disease.

My relative who fell ill was a young man with a family. He was a subsistence farmer, like most people in Ode-Irele and he grew yams and cassava. Suddenly, last week, he got sick and died. Like other people with the illness, it was very fast— headache, blindness and next thing he is dead, within two days.

Because of the strange circumstances of his death, he did not have a normal funeral. Instead, his body was simply placed in the bush, which is local custom for any ‘strange’ death.

‘If you don’t eat an evil thing, you won’t die an evil death’

I would estimate that 70 percent of local people are animists. Most people have small shrines to local gods in their homes. In the centre of town, there is a temple to Malokun, a goddess said to protect the city. Most local people, including my family, believed that the illness struck because someone disrespected the goddess and she was fighting back. There are many rules around this temple—for example, a funeral cannot pass in front of it. Local priests say that certain items from the temple were stolen and that this was punishment

This photo shows the Malokun shrine in Ode-Irele (Photo from Malokun Ode-Irele People - MOIP Facebook page)

In our language, we have a saying “If you don’t eat an evil thing, you won’t die an evil death.” So people think that those who died did something to anger the gods. The result? People didn't take any health precautions because they didn’t think it was health-related. Personally, I don’t believe in these things, but I know they are ancient beliefs.

“Six or seven sick people were being hidden by their families”

Paiwo Oni is a spokesperson for the Ondo state Health Ministry. He said that, at first, it was hard to convince families with sick relatives to come forward because they were afraid of being stigmatised by the community.

We immediately launched a big advocacy campaign, reaching out to community leaders to ask them to tell people to seek help and not be ashamed of this illness. Luckily, it worked. We talked and people listened. They realized that the sick people were not those involved in the temple break-in. Six or seven sick people were being hidden by their families. They came out during the weekend and are now in hospital.




A Team of medical experts visted the town to try to unravel the mystery of ONDO X.
(Photo from the Facebook account of Olademehin Tayo, Community Information Officer).

“We are advising people to avoid alcohol”

“We are currently running toxicology tests on samples. There are several possibilities but we suspect that the cause could be a local brew, made from ethanol and mixed with herbs.

For now, we are advising people to avoid all alcoholic drinks as well as maintaining good hygiene and washing hands. Also, we have told people to stop using pesticides and, if they do, they should notify us. However, we really don’t believe this is the issue.

On Monday, FRANCE 24 spoke with Ondo State Minister of Health Dalu Adeyanju, who is in charge of the investigation. He said: “We are still awaiting toxicology results, but the clinical findings are in keeping with the idea that this was ethanol poisoning. If you look at the symptoms, including optical nerve damage, they are classic.”

According to Dr. Adeyanju, it was confirmed that 70 percent of those affected had consumed alcohol before falling ill. He was unable to confirm for the other 30% .

His hypothesis is that it was “probably local gin; someone put in ethanol to increase alcohol content”.

Written with FRANCE 24 journalist Brenna Daldorph and contributed to by Adekanmi Igbekele and Paiwo Oni.

Source

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Mysterious ailment in Nigeria kills victims within hours; 18 dead
By Jethro Mullen, Annie Ramos, and Josh Levs, CNN. 20th April, 2015

A mysterious affliction has killed as many as 18 people in southwestern Nigeria, leaving health officials scrambling to determine its cause.

The cases have all occurred in Nigeria's Ondo state since April 13, health officials said Sunday.

Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, Ondo's state commissioner for health, said 18 people have died and five people are being treated. Those affected are between the ages of 25 and 60. The disease does not appear to be contagious, he said.

Symptoms include headaches, blurred vision, loss of sight and unconsciousness, Adeyanju said.

Some suspect it may be the result of locally brewed alcohol.

The World Health Organization, earlier Sunday, reported at least 13 people were killed and that there were 18 total cases. Those numbers were reported by Adeyanju released somewhat different totals.

Investigators sent samples of blood, urine and spinal fluid to a university in the city of Lagos for tests, which ruled out infections from viruses or bacteria, the WHO said.

Doctors plan to carry out toxicological tests on one of the victims who died in a hospital, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.

Source

[Bob]

Confirmed - Don't Drink Methanol - you will die and if you survive somehow, most likely you will be blind..

Reuters Summary

Health officials said an unknown epidemic in western Nigeria has been traced back to youth in a small community who consumed local gin, or "ogogoro," mixed with herbs.

Above, Medical staff wearing the same protective gear worn for the Nigerian epidemic carried a boy suspected of having Ebola, into a treatment facility in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 5, 2014. REUTERS

A mysterious outbreak in western Nigeria, which residents say is more deadly than Ebola, has been linked to contaminated alcohol and methanol poisoning, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Nigerian Health Ministry said in a joint statement Tuesday. The strange sickness has ravaged an Ikale community in Ondo state, killing at least 18 people in the past two weeks.

Health officials confirmed Tuesday the victims died from methanol poisoning and not from pesticides, as previously speculated. Patients complained of severe headaches before going blind and succumbing to the illness within 24 hours. The unknown ailment was traced back to youth in a small community in the southern part of Ondo who consumed local gin, or “ogogoro,” mixed with herbs. The Nigerian government has advised the residents in the town of Odo-Irele against consuming the alcoholic drink, the Premium Times in Abuja reported.

“Epidemiological findings indicate a strong linkage of the outbreak to a consumption of a local gin that had been contaminated with methanol, a poisonous material,” Nigerian Health Minister Fidelis Nwankwo said in a press statement obtained by Pule Nigeria news in Lagos.

Although the symptoms were reportedly different than those of Ebola, health officials last week were utilizing the same protective gear used during the deadly West African outbreak to handle patients and victims. Residents of the Ode-Irele’s Ikale community, a sub-ethnic group in Ondo state, were afraid to touch the dead for fear the illness was indeed Ebola, which has killed more than 10,500 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since 2013.

However, Nwankwo said Tuesday the deaths in the southwestern state were “clearly not due to Ebola virus disease as feared by many at first” and the preliminary lab tests indicated the deadly sickness “cannot be attributed to any infectious organism, bacterial or viral.”

Samples taken from victims and tested in a laboratory in Lagos came back negative for Ebola and five other deadly diseases, volunteers from Ebola Alert told the Premium Times. WHO declared Nigeria Ebola-free in October last year after the deadly virus claimed seven lives out of the total 19 cases reported in the West African nation.

The health minister said Monday there have been no new cases of the ailment within the past 100 hours as well as no new fatalities within the last 72 hours. Nwankwo said the Nigerian government is working with WHO officials to investigate the exact poisonous methanol substance involved, the Premium Times reported.