Unusual sickness strikes 164 people in Sokoto and kills four.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has urged the public not to panic over last month’s outbreak of a strange illness in Sokoto State.

Although the cause of the illness, which has resulted in four fatalities out of 164 reported cases, remains unknown.

The agency’s Director General Jide Idris, who gave the assurance, said initial investigations indicated that the disease is non-infectious and restricted to Isa Local Government Area.

He said while there was no immediate cause for the alarm on the disease’s transmission, even a single death was worrisome.

The NCDC boss said this prompted the agency to broaden its collaboration, engaging external sister agencies, as well as the National Agency Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) in addressing the strange illness.

Idris said two suspected cases were under treatment at the Uthman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) in Sokoto with one patient discharged due to noticed improvements.