Grandma, son, grandchildren die in Ilorin after eating amala

A 70-year-old woman, her son, and two grandchildren died Tuesday night in the Eruda community in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, after eating “amala.”

This was as another man died of gastroenteritis. Consequently, the state government has placed the healthcare system on Outbreak Response Mode after confirming the deaths.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Amina El-Imam, confirmed this at a press conference on Tuesday.

She said, “The entire health team of the Ministry visited the community after a report of a family who lost a number of their relatives after consuming ‘Amala lafun.’

“On getting there, the claim was that there was an instance of food poisoning where the 70-year-old woman fell ill and died after consuming ‘amala.’

“Unfortunately, her son and grandkids also consumed the same food, fell ill, and died. They were taken to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), where they passed away.”

El-Imam hinted that the “amala” could have been responsible for the death, noting that the same family members who took yam flour instead of “lafun” were fine.

She disclosed further that it was observed that the residence was in a location where personal and environmental hygiene was not really optimal.

According to her, the incident was a case of chemical food poisoning, potentially due to under-processed cassava used in processing the “lafun.”

She, however, disclosed that “we have another four cases recovering at the moment, in addition, of course, to the four that we unfortunately lost.”

Similarly, the commissioner said that an Initial Rapid Diagnostic Test was conducted on the suspected case of Cholera, which turned out to be Gastroenteritis, revealing that one death was recorded at Osin Gada, in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara.

“The community had a few cases of stooling and vomiting, predominantly among children, of which, unfortunately, one life was lost.

“The vomiting and stooling drew the attention of the state’s disease reporting structure.

“On getting there, treatment was immediately commenced and all the affected patients have received immediate standard treatments to stop the symptoms, treat them, and restore them to health,” she said.

El-Imam disclosed that the deceased is the index case who demonstrated this illness before it spread to others.

According to her, the disease was characterised by vomiting, diarrhoea, and general abdominal pain among the patients.