81 students affected as diarrhea outbreak hits Kaduna school

An outbreak of diarrhea has been reported at the Government Girls Senior and Junior Secondary School in Kawo, Kaduna State, leaving 81 students ill and 15 requiring hospital care.

The Kaduna State Ministry of Health confirmed the development on Friday, following a probe by the State Rapid Response Team headed by State Epidemiologist, Dr. Jeremiah Diako.

The team’s findings indicated that the students affected were mostly aged between 16 and 17 years.

Diako said the students were promptly moved to the General Hospital in Kawo for medical attention.

“All hospitalised students have since been discharged,” he said.

In a bid to forestall future occurrences, the health ministry has outlined several key actions.

“These include strengthening disease reporting mechanisms, establishing school-based surveillance systems, standardising case referral procedures, providing food safety and waste management training, and improving local outbreak preparedness,” the ministry stated.

Officials stressed the importance of swiftly putting these preventive measures in place to safeguard student health and reduce the risk of similar outbreaks in the future.