A mysterious disease attacking human spinal cord and subsequently paralysing some parts of the body, suspected to be caused by a wild tuberculosis virus, has been detected in Koma hills in Adamawa State.
Koma is in Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The Project Manager, Tuberculosis Control in Adamawa State, Dr. Stephen John, said that the development was a potential threat to the Koma hills community and the entire people of the state.
John was speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria shortly after examining one of the affected patients at Nasarawo Koma village’s clinic on Thursday.
Koma hills are located on the mountainous fringes bordering the Republic of Cameroon and Nigeria in Jada Local Government Area of the state.
The late Colonel Yohanna Madaki , former Military Governor of the then Gongola State, visited the mountains in 1989 and made the inhabitants to be well-known to the world.
John said: “The discovery of the Spinal Code TB case indicated that the disease has been in existence and deeply for quite a long time within the Koma communities.
“The situation is a great challenge and potential threat to the entire Koma inhabitants and the people of the state.”
According to the project manager, the spinal cord TB infection is a serious disease that kills human being within a short time.
He explained that the disease, if not detected early, causes paralyses of the body completely, and subsequently kills.
He said that was the first time the spinal cord TB infection was being detected in the state.
He pointed out that Koma communities and other nomadic settlements found on the mountainous areas were well-known to be potentials of TB and leprosy endemic due to the lack of access to the health facilities.
John said that on daily basis, a significant number of suspected TB cases and patients were being diagnosed and received treatment.
John said: “Koma communities are so important that they need the attention of the world.
“They are a community where 30 to 40 per cent live on low land and have low health facilities.
“While 60 to 70 per cent still live on the mountains with difficult terrain to be reached out and they do not have access to the health facilities completely.”
He said that the state government was making use of volunteers, most of whom were once patients of the TB disease, to help reach the communities from one to other mountainous settlements and identify TB and Leprosy cases.
He explained that records of 2012 showed that over 3,000 new TB cases were confirmed in the state and the patients were presently put on treatment.
John said that the state has 142 clinics and 44 laboratory centres where TB cases were being diagnosed and treated free
He thanked the state ministry for local government affairs for its tremendous support, especially in training the local volunteers across the state.
He appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and private organisations to come to their aide to curtail the potential threat of the disease.
Also commenting on the development, the District Head of Koma, Malam Hamma-Jalo Abba, expressed concern over the increasing rate of TB infection in the area.
Abba said that the major challenges affecting Koma community are lack of adequate health facilities, roads and other social infrastructures.
He said that the state government had done a lot in promoting the area but still needed to do more, especially in the areas of health and potable drinking water, among others.
Also speaking, Pam Tiyi, a laboratory attendant at Nali COCIN clinic, one of the Koma mountainous settlements, said that the clinic was established by missionaries to offer free medical service to the community.
Tiyi said that among the major diseases terrorising the community was Tuberculosis.
Lamenting his ordeal, Markus Shamaki, one of the spinal code TB infection patients admitted at the Nasarawo Koma clinic, told NAN that he was affected with the disease six months ago.
According to Shamaki, his two legs have already been paralysed.
He said that at the initial stage, he was told by a traditional herbalist that he was attacked by a witch.
“When the illness persisted to the level that I cannot even walk on my two legs, then one of my friends, who was a TB- volunteer, advised me to go to Nasarawo Koma clinic for medical checkup,” Shamaki said.
Trending
- Minister summons Lead British International School over bullying allegation
- Sex scandal : We won’t oppose any sanction against lecturer -UNN-ASUU
- Sanwo-Olu unveils EKO CARES
- UNN suspends lecturer for alleged sexual misconduct, begins probe
- Oyo LG honours Archbishop Ladigbolu, names road after late father, Akee Obayanritan
- Kogi Assembly blasts EFCC, demands removal of ‘wanted’ from Yahaya Bello’s name
- Zamfara: Passengers overpower bandits, kill one, seize two AK-47 rifles
- Aston Villa confirm new Unai Emery contract until 2027