By Asma’u Ahmad
Katsina State Government said it has re-established Emergency Epidemic Response Committee to curb the spread of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in the state.
The Public Enlightenment Officer (PEO) of the state’s Health Management Agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Sogiji, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen, on Thursday in Katsina.
Governor Aminu Masari
According to him, the 10-man committee has been given the mandate to quickly move into any Local Government that records any CSM break out.
“We have quickly re-established the Epidemic Response Committee, to checkmate the spread of type B CSM that broke out in few local government areas in the state. The state government has directed the committee to immediately move into the local government that is neighbouring to Zamfara to provide medical assistance in those areas.
“Zamfara has recorded outbreak of Type B CSM, which is not known to us here. In 2014, the entire Northern states carried out massive vaccination against CSM and this time around, we are experiencing the type B CSM. We are surprise that type B of the disease came out in Batsari and Safana Local Government Areas in Katsina state,” he said.
Alhaji Sogiji said that the government had procured drugs and distributed to all health centres to treat victims of CSM.
He said all local governments in the state have also been directed to continue enlightenment campaigns to prevent further spread of the disease.
According to health experts, Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM) is an infectious disease, most often caused by the bacteria, called Neisseria meningitides and affects the brain and spinal cord with symptoms such as stiff neck, high fever, rash, headache, vomiting among others.
