Two districts on high alert after mysterious illness kills 7
The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, visits three-year-old Arafa Salim at Dodoma Regional Hospital, where the little girl was admitted yesterday with an illness that had not yet been identified. PHOTO | EDWIN MJWAHUZI
What you need to know:
Seven people have died and 14 were in quarantine at Dodoma Regional Hospital following an outbreak of an unidentified disease in Chemba and Kondoa districts, the government announced yesterday.
Dodoma. Seven people have died and 14 were in quarantine at Dodoma Regional Hospital following an outbreak of an unidentified disease in Chemba and Kondoa districts, the government announced yesterday.
The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, said the government became aware of the outbreak last Monday through the office of the Dodoma Regional Medical Officer.
It all started when nine members of the same family in Mwaikisabe Village, Chemba District, became ill after reportedly eating meat from a cow that was slaughtered after breaking one of its legs.
However, other people who also ate the meat were unaffected, prompting doubts on whether the animal was the source of the disease.
Nine other people from Soya, Itolwa, Kelema Balai, Gubali, Chemka, Kintima and Ilesi villages in Chemba District and one from Ubembeni in Kondoa District developed symptoms that were similar to those experienced by the nine relatives in Mwaikisabe Village.
“Patients suffer from vomiting and diarrhoea and their eyes and skin turn yellow. They also complain of aching stomachs.
“So far, 21 people have been reported with these symptoms and seven have died. To prevent the disease from spreading further, the remaining patients have been quarantined at Dodoma Regional Hospital, while others are at Kondoa District Hospital,” Ms Mwalimu said.
She, however, allayed fears that the mysterious disease could be anthrax.
“The symptoms seen in the patients are not consistent with anthrax.”
Medical experts have also ruled out an outbreak of yellow fever, and were examining the possibility of the illness being Rift Valley fever.
The Dodoma Regional Medical Officer, Dr James Kiologwe, said the disease could have been caused by aflatoxins, which are toxic metabolites produced by certain fungi. Aflatoxins have been associated with a number of diseases, such as aflatoxicosis in livestock and humans.
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