No fewer than three persons have lost their lives in Bauchi State as a result of excessive intake of salt for the prevention of Ebola Virus.
It learnt that an old man in Misau local council and three other adults in Bigi, Gudum Sayawa, and Bayara village, suburbs in Bauchi suspected to have hypertension lost their lives to the exercise.
According to a source, one of the deceased persons, Mr. Paul Bigi, 74, drank more than two cups of salted water and also rubbed some on his body after bathing with the salt water, as he was directed by his children.
The source said “less than one hour later Baba started dedicating non-stop and he died in the morning around 7am”.
In Gumdum Sayawa, it was gathered that one John Ayuba used one bag of salt in one drum of water for bathing and one bag of salt in one drum of water for drinking because he has a large number of people living in his house and subsequently died of diarrhoea and vomiting, a family source said.
A health worker who pleaded anonymity at the Bayara Specialist hospital told Vanguard that a hypertensive patient undergoing treatment at the hospital drank three glasses of water filled with salt.
The health worker said, “a hypertensive patient who drank three classes of salt water was brought by his relatives to the hospital. He did not survive the crisis as his blood level has exceeded the normal range”
Also in Gudum Sayawa, a pregnant woman, Mrs. Hanatu Kushi, was reported to have a miscarriage after taking the solution and she is currently being treated at the ATBUTH .
When contacted the Bauchi State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Sani Malami, dispelled outbreak of Ebola in the state, saying the rumour was to create unnecessary panic.
He debunked the stories that four people lost their lives due to salt intake in the state, adding
He advised the citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspected cases of severe fever to the nearest health facility, assuring that adequate measures had been put in place to treat infected persons.