3 Persons dead, 183 hospitalised after consuming expired fruit Juice in Kano

*The incident occurred after the victims had consumed citric acid powdered drinks of a brand of Jolly Jus or Fresh said to have expired about a year ago, says Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, Kano State Commissioner for health

*NAFDAC collects water samples for laboratory analysis, following outbreak of strange infectious disease in Kano metropolis

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

For consuming expired citric acid powdered drinks of a brand of Jolly Jus or Fresh in the ancient city, three people are confirmed dead while 183 others have been hospitalised in Kano, Kano State of Nigeria.

Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, Kano State Commissioner for health, who told media reporters Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Kano, stated this said the incident affected 13 Local Government Areas of the state.

The Commissioner disclosed that the incident occurred after the victims had consumed expired citric acid powdered drinks of a brand of Jolly Jus or Fresh.

The products batch had expired since about a year ago, but were still being sold in the market, said Dr. Tsanyawa.

According to him, 284 individuals were affected, of which 101 had been discharged, while 183 are currently receiving treatment.

According to him, the taskforce of the Ministry of Health have since seized the expired products worth over N59 million.

Likewise, Dr. Bashir Lawan, state epidemiologist in the Ministry of Health, who explained that “these symptoms are classical of ongoing haemolysis (breakage of red blood cells) and bleeding”, said that the index case was a 6-year-old girl seen March 6, 2021.

Dr. Lawan stated: “We initially suspected viral haemorrhagic fever but the test results came back from the National Reference Laboratory as negative for Yellow fever and Lassa fever. But we are still awaiting the test of Dengue fever.”

Subsequently, the Kano State Government has provided a list of hospitals designated for patients affected to be admitted for treatment.

The hospitals include Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, and Infectious Disease Hospital.

Others are Sheikh Jidda Hospital, Waziri Shehu Gidado Hospital, Rano General Hospital and two hospitals in Dawakin Tofa Local Government.

The state epidemiologist further explained that this had spread to eight local governments, including Gwale, Kano Municipal, Dala, Bunkure, Fagge, Gwarzo and Dawakin Tofa.

Lawan also confirmed that a water sample was taken from Dandolo cemetery’s bore-hole for analysis to find other potential causes of the outbreak.

They had about three samples of expired powdered mixed-fruit and citric acid powder with NAFDAC for laboratory testing to confirm the link to either expired ingredients or preservatives, he noted.

According to him, four additional samples were taken for heavy metals and leptospirosis screening among other technical response activities.

Meanwhile, the State Consumer Protection Council has commenced investigation into the circumstances that led to the poisoning which reportedly killed three people and made over a hundred others fall sick in the state.

A source under condition of anonymity informed reporters, that “their men are currently conducting shop-to-shop operation in the market.”

Expired products were last month brought into Singer market in the state, as the holy month of Ramadan approaches, stated the source.

NAFDAC collects water samples for laboratory analysis, following outbreak of strange infectious disease

In a related development, ConsumerConnect gathered the National Agency for Food, Drug and Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has stated that it collected water samples and flavour products for laboratory analysis, following the outbreak of strange infectious disease in Kano metropolis.

Mr. Shaba Muhammad, NAFDAC State Coordinator, Monday, March 15 in Kano, said that the samples were referred to its laboratory in Kaduna for analysis, agency report stated.

Muhammad said the agency received report of manifestation of a strange disease suspected to be caused by drinking sachet water and locally processed drinks in the metropolis.

He explained that a team of officials of the agency had visited the infected persons at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH), Kano, and some of the affected areas.

“Reports indicated that the infection involves sachet water and local drinks suspected to be prepared with expired and adulterated products.

“We collected samples of the suspected water and the products for analysis to establish the cause of the disease,” Muhammad said.

While urging residents to be vigilant and check the label of the products, he noted the agency had scaled up surveillance to check circulation of fake and counterfeit products in the state.

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