The death toll resulting from the consumption of a suspected poisonous alcoholic beverage outbreak in parts of Ondo State has risen to 49, while the number of affected persons has also increased to 170.
Providing an update on the situation in Akure, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, noted that the new cases were recorded in Irele Local Government Area.
He said health authorities were intensifying surveillance, case management and contact tracing to contain the outbreak and identify the source of the poisonous substance.
Ajaka added that medical teams had been deployed to the affected communities to monitor the situation, manage cases and trace the source of the suspected poisonous substance.
He said the state government was also working with security and regulatory agencies, including the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other relevant agencies.
He disclosed that the matter was discussed at a national meeting involving commissioners for health across the country and officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, where Ondo State’s rapid response in surveillance, case management and tracking was commended.
Ajaka, in an earlier briefing, had disclosed that 29 people had died in connection with the suspected poisoning in Odigbo Local Government Area, with 121 persons affected at that stage.
According to him, the deaths in Odigbo were caused by locally produced alcoholic and alcoholic-herbal substances consumed during two naming ceremonies in the affected communities.
He noted that investigations showed that an individual who was not a member of one of the families hosting a naming ceremony procured the substance and brought it to the event for guests to consume.
The affected communities previously identified in Odigbo Local Government Area include New Town, Odole, Okele, Orita Odigbo, Araromi-Obu and Oniparaga.
To end the fatalities, the state government has banned the production and sale of locally brewed alcoholic and alcoholic-herbal beverages in Odigbo Local Government Area as a precautionary measure.
The police have also arrested a suspect in Araromi-Obu in connection with the production and distribution of the substances, while further investigation is ongoing.
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