The Nigerian government said it is monitoring developments and on the lookout for any occurrence of the alleged deàdly flu from China.

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who disclosed this on Monday in Abuja, during a ministerial bi-weekly meeting on the update of COVID-19 response and development in the country’s health sector, said that at moment world health bodies had not informed the country of any deàdly flu from China.

According to him, when there is an outbreak of any flu or disease anywhere in the world, World Health Organisation (WHO) will announce it to the world and send an advisory on how it can be handled, but there is no such alert in the case of the strange flu.

News Agency of Nigeria quoted the Health Minister as said, “So the Ministry of Health finds the message going round in social media, odd and strange.

“By default, when there is an outbreak of any flu or disease anywhere we will hear it first from WHO and WHO has not said anything about it, we will also hear from the US Centre for Disease Control, but there’s nothing like that also from there and we have not even read anything from the Chinese people.

“Usually, their embassy will send somebody to come and inform us if there is anything. So I begin to wonder about the authenticity of that paper going around the place because up till today no confirmation of anything like that,” he said.

The minister also said that foreign media outlets were also silent about the flu from China, an indication that the news making the rounds is a fabrication.

He, however, said that the Federal Government was on the lookout for anything suspicious.

“This is a season where people generate stories, throw them into the media and everybody starts panicking, whilst those who generated such stories are laughing at the chaos that they have created.

“So we are watching the situation, everything we hear we take seriously, but I want to assure you again that any outbreak of such a character, first of all, is announced by WHO, they will then send us advisory and information about it.

“The US CDC, the equivalent of CDC in the UK, in Europe, they have not said anything. So reports of that nature I also want you to take with a big pinch of salt,” he added.

There had been reports that there had been an outbreak of an unknown deadly flu in China, amid the resurgence of COVID-19, which has led to the de@th of residents, including three Nigerians.

China which is believed as the country of origin of Covid-19 was also the worse hit by the pandemic. Though the initial clinical analysis of the new outbreak ruled out COVID-19, the symptoms of the fatal flu include dry throat, fever and difficulty in breathing.

On the recent outbreak of Diphtheria disease which has spread to four states with 123 confirmed cases and 38 de@ths, the Minister insisted that everyone had a responsibility to stop the spread of the diseases.

He, however, said it was the responsibility of the Federal and State Governments to address particular diseases as they break out and that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Health was doing its part.

 

 


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