Niger lead poisoning kills 28 children

The Federal Government has
confirmed the death of 28 children
in a fresh outbreak of lead
poisoning from illegal mining in
Niger State.
The Minister of State for Health,
Fidelis Nwankwo, who stated this
during a press briefing on
Wednesday in Abuja, said 63 cases
of the outbreak had been
confirmed by the state
government, while many animals
in affected communities had died.
He said there was palpable fear
among neighbouring communities
in Kaduna State, noting however
that the disease was not
contagious.
The communities affected are
Shikira, Magiro Ward and Kawo, all
in Rafi Local Government Area,
according to the Director of Port
Health in the Ministry, Dr. Nasir
Sani-Gwarzo, who led the Federal
Government’s team to the areas.
Gwarzo emphasised that the
current outbreak was deadlier than
the one which broke out in Zamfara
in 2011 in which 400 people were
killed.
According to him. the public should
not have exercise fear over the
outbreak but should instead, take
all precautionary measures against
its spread.
Nwankwo said the health ministry
received the report of the outbreak
on the May 7 and immediately
swung into action.
He said, “The lead poisoning was
confirmed and it is confirmed that
most of the people affected are
children below the age of five
years.
“The affected children were found
to have high serum lead levels of
between 171.5 – 224ug Pb/dl
(normal is less than < 10ug Pb/dl).
That means, 17-22 times higher
than the acceptable limits as
established by the World Health
Organisation.
“The rapid assessment by the
NCDC/FMOH/MMSD revealed that as
of May 12, 2015, 65 cases and 28
deaths had occurred giving a case
fatality rate of 43 per cent. All the 28
cases were children below the age
of five, made up of 17 females and
11 males.
“Additionally, the finding revealed
a serious impact on our livestock
with cows, goats and chickens most
affected.
“The devastating impact of this
outbreak is associated with new
mining sites, which were found to
contain more leaded ores, which
are often brought home for
crushing and processing.”