Jigawa (Nigeria) – Six children under the age of five have died in an outbreak of measles and whopping cough in Jigawa, North-west Nigeria.
According to a report by Nigeria’s news agency, six villages in Sule-tankarkar Local Government Area of the State were affected by the outbreak but Maizare community was the worst hit.
Head of Department for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the local council, Mohammed Maisamari, confirmed the outbreak on Sunday.
He said the report of the outbreak was received by the council on March 1, adding that health officials were making efforts to curtail the spread of the diseases.
According to him, 249 children infected by the diseases had been treated while a team of health workers has been mobilized to the affected communities to treat all the children who had contracted either of the diseases; noting that, they would intensify health education campaign to enlighten rural dwellers on the need to embrace immunization.