The Ondo state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Banji Ajaka, has disclosed that the death toll from the suspected poisonous alcoholic substance(Monkey Tail) outbreak in Ondo State has risen to 49, while the number of affected persons has climbed to 170.
The affected communities previously identified in Odigbo include New Town, Odole, Okele, Orita Odigbo, Araromi-Obu and Oniparaga
The commissioner disclosed that eight of the new deaths were recorded in Irele Local Government Area, while the overall number of people affected across the areas hit by the incident had risen to 170, Peak Newspaper reports.
Ajaka gave the latest figures on Wednesday while providing an update on the situation, saying health authorities were intensifying surveillance, case management and contact tracing to contain the outbreak and identify the source of the poisonous substance.
He said the government was yet to relent in its efforts to establish the source of the substance, adding that investigators were examining whether the poisoning originated from a single source or multiple sources.
According to Ajaka, 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.
Ajaka said 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.
He said the government would continue its investigation until the source of the poisoning was established.
The latest figures came after the commissioner had earlier disclosed that 29 people had died in connection with the suspected poisoning in Odigbo Local Government Area, with 121 persons affected at that stage.
Ajaka had linked the Odigbo outbreak to locally produced alcoholic and alcoholic-herbal substances consumed during two naming ceremonies in the affected communities.
He said 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.
Following the outbreak, the state government banned the production and sale of locally brewed alcoholic and alcoholic-herbal beverages in Odigbo Local Government Area as a precautionary measure.
The commissioner also confirmed the arrest of a suspect in Araromi-Obu in connection with the production and distribution of the substances.
Ajaka warned residents against consuming unregulated alcoholic and herbal preparations, stressing that substances promoted for medicinal purposes could also pose serious health risks if their contents were unknown or unregulated.
