Kano State Ministry of Health has debunked reports of an outbreak of measles in Kano Municipal Local Government Area.
A statement issued by the ministry’s Director of Public Health and Disease Control, Dr Imam Wada Bello, vehemently debunked the report.
Recall that authorities at Kano Municipal Local Government Council in Kano State had confirmed an outbreak of measles in some parts of the local government area.
The area’s Primary Health Care coordinator, Aliyu Jinjiri Kiru, disclosed this during a meeting of the emergency preparedness committee at the local government secretariat.
But Imam denied the report, saying that before declaring an outbreak, certain procedures and indices are considered, including laboratory investigations and tests, as well as assessment of the severity of the disease and the number of people affected.
In the case of Kano Municipal LGA, he said, “None of these procedures have been carried out to warrant the declaration of measles outbreak.”
He urged the people to disregard the report as it lacked empirical and clinical evidence to substantiate it.
The statement assured that the ministry was very vigilant on all public diseases that wreak havoc on the lives of the people by taking all necessary measures to contain the effects of such diseases.
He emphasised that the ministry and its 44 LGAs’ Emergency Preparedness Response (EPR) are on the alert to respond to outbreaks in a timely manner in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
