No fewer than 10 children, between the ages of three to 13 years, have been hospitalised following the outbreak of an unnamed disease in the Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

It was learned that the disease outbreak forced many primary and secondary schools to be shut down while authorities launched an investigation.

The Chairman of the local government, Yunana Barde, who confirmed the outbreak of the disease, said the strange disease broke out on Wednesday night.

Barde spoke to journalists at the Kafanchan General Hospital on Thursday.

He, however, urged residents not to panic, saying efforts were being made to contain the disease.

He commended the hospital for providing a temporary isolation centre for patients who came down with the strange disease.

The Medical Director of the general hospital, Dr Isaac Nathaniel, said resuscitative measures were being carried out on 10 suspected victims on admission.

He added that samples had been collected from the patients for laboratory tests.

He said, “Last night, I was notified of the outbreak of what looks like a respiratory tract infection at Ward B community in Kafanchan.

“I quickly dispatched a team of medical and laboratory personnel who got in touch with three of the suspected cases.

“We counselled them to come to the hospital for proper evaluation and treatment after seven more victims were brought in today.

“We are doing all we can, to stabilise them and give them treatment while we carry out the investigation.”

According to him, the patients, whose ages are between three and 13, displayed symptoms ranging from sore throat, headache, and fever to difficulty in swallowing and breathing, among others.

He added that the state epidemiologist and his team were on their way to Kafanchan from Kaduna to ascertain the epidemiologic basis of the outbreak and its spread.

He, however, debunked the news making the rounds that about 10 people had died, noting none of the purported dead bodies had been brought to the mortuary.

“We were notified of some deaths last night but none of the so-called dead bodies has been brought to us. So, it’s all hearsay for now,” Nathaniel said.

Punch