Health
Sudden Deaths in Bonny, Rivers State About a Month After Feasting on Dead Whale and Thousands of Dead Fishes
… Bonny Council launches investigations, dismisses death link to Covid-19 or eating on dead fishes and Whale.
About a month after the sudden appearance of dead fishes and a dead whale massively feasted by residents of Bonny local government Council area of Rivers State, there have reports of mysterious deaths in the area.
The outcry about the sudden deaths of scores of persons has led to the Launching of an investigation into the cause of deaths in some parts of Bonny.
Residents of Bonny feasting on dead Whale ashore Bonny Island.
In past few weeks there had been reported cases of mysterious deaths in Bonny, while hundreds sick persons have besieged various hospitals and Healthcare centres in Bonny.
Unconfirmed reports have it that not less than 12 persons have died displaying similar symptoms like inability to taste, smell, high fever and others.
In a statement signed Omoni LongJohn, Secretary of Bonny Local Government and Pafuro Tolofari, the Supervisor for Health said that following the recent social media report of alleged persons with loss of sense of smell and taste, malaria and typhoid fever, and high level of deaths, the Bonny Local Government quickly swung into action to investigate and ascertain the truth of the whole panic.
A team headed by the Secretary to the Local Government Omoni LongJohn, the supervisor of Health, the Covid19 Team, and the Media team, together with Representatives from the Primary Health went to all the Health Facilities in the Island both privately owned and Government owned, including major Pharmacies and laboratories.
According to statement the Head Doctors on duty, as well as the managers were interviewed, and recorded and following facts were ascertained.
There has been an increase in drugs resistance malaria in the past two weeks on the Island. There are also increase in the cases of typhoid fever in the said period.
About 50% of the patients also complain of dizziness, bitterness in the mouth, lack of a sense of taste and smell.
There are some few patients with complains of only loss of sense of taste and smell.
The resistance to normal malaria drugs results in patients returning almost immediately with the same symptoms complain. This treatment shows 100% improvement in the health of the patients.
Also, Patients with loss of taste and smell are given allergy drugs, and they report improvement, as majority of them do not show symptoms of cough and catarrh.
There have been no deaths as a result of these illnesses in any of the hospitals/Clinics on the Island in the past one month.
There has been less than 6 in-patient deaths in all the hospital/clinics on the Island in the past two weeks and they all have chronic medical history.
There are cases of about 6 cases of dead patients brought to the hospital/clinics for confirmation. They also have compromised health situations before hand, on inquiry to their families by the doctors.
Bonny Local Government Council also said that the rumours of high death rates in Bonny are unfounded, and may not be too far from the fact that the mortuaries are filled as a result of the ban on Public Burial in the state, resulting in bereaved families making calls to all and sundry informing them of the plan to bury their deceased loved ones almost immediately.
The Council further said” The contaminated Bonny air/atmosphere have a lot to do with the sudden loss of sense of smell, and further investigation shall be done to ascertain the actual level of the toxicity of the air we breath in Bonny, hence the use of facemask is crucial.
“There is the high need for Bonny residents to take the first line of responsibility for their personal health by cleaning and clearing their drainages and environment, and use mosquito treated nets for sleeping.
“There is high need to practice personal hygiene at all times and observe WHO public health requirements, especially Social Distancing in Bonny Kingdom and wearing of facemasks.
“Persons with the above symptoms should immediately report to the nearest health facility as self medication is highly discouraged. Individuals should eat balanced nutrition and practice regular exercises.
Bonny Local Government promised to continue to work with our King and Natural Ruler, as well as the Bonny Chiefs Council to ensure we have a safe and healthy society.
For the records, the investigation was carried out on; Bonny General Hospital, Delta Specialist Hospital, Channel Consultant Clinic, Pan-OJ, Island Medicals Diagnostic and Aliied Services, St. Peters Clinic, Mephar Global Pharmacy and St. Charles Surgery.
Meanwhile, in Statement issued on behalf of Engr. David Rogers Irimagha, Executive Chairman Of Bonny Local Government Council informed the indigenes and residents of Bonny Local Government that the public concerns and expression of discomfort over the sudden prevalence of malaria and typhoid, loss of taste and smells etc, on the Island is one that has called on the government’s urgent attention.
“As a responsible government we use this medium to inform the citizens that government is thoroughly investigating the issue as well as other related concerns and in due time it will relate same to the public.
“However, it is advisable to observe all safety and hygienic measures at this period, and be rest assured that government is on top of the matter and will provide a positive solution to this effect.”
Speaking further, he dismissed the public fear that the sudden deaths may have been linked to the contraction of Covid-19 or the massive consumption of dead Fishes that were sudden seen ashore of Bonny Waters about a month ago as investigations are on.
In month of April, and a few days after thousands of dead croaker fishes washed ashore along Finima coastline in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, a whale has been found dead by the Agaja Seashore off the Coast of Finima. Residents of feasted on dead Fishes and harvested on the dead whale.
The reason for the death in aquatic life in the area has not been deduced but locals besieged the area and have been harvesting meat from the dead whale.
There were reported influx of dead croaker fishes in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, a situation that might cause residents of the city to be exposed to food poisoning arising from consumption of the fishes.
About a week the fishes were found ashore, dead croaker fishes have been on sale almost on every table where fish is sold, both in the few secret markets.
At the time of filing this report the Rivers State government had not reacted to the mysterious deaths in Bonny.
