Strange Illness Breaks Out In Benue School . . . Nine Students Hospitalized
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A private secondary school may have been shut down indefinitely by Benue State government following the outbreak of a strange illness that left nine students with mild paralsis.
Confirming the outback of the strange illness yesterday, the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Joseph Ngbea, in a statement, said some of the patients have been discharged while few others are still hospitalized.
According to him; “We got a report about the outbreak of the unknown disease and we went to the Teaching Hospital where three of the students were on admission. What we saw that the children had Paresis – weakness of the limbs.
“We looked at the possible causes because this country is almost certified free of Poliomyelitis.
“So, when we got there, it was confirmed that it was not Poliomyelitis. What we are looking at is ‘Golemba Syndrome’. It is a weakness that starts from the limbs upwards,” he explained.
The Health Commissioner further revealed that the disease could be as a result of bacterial, fungal, or viral infection.
The affected secondary school, Vaatia College is in Makurdi, the State capital.
