Five people reportedly lost their lives to a disease suspected to be viral hepatitis, which broke out in Marhai community in the Wamba Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.


Viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. According to doctors, the disease spreads in different ways, including through sex, sharing of needles and the consumption of unclean food.

One of the members of the community, who spoke to Punch on condition of anonymity, said that quite a number of their people lost their lives to the illness.

“We don’t know where the illness emanated from. We are appealing to the state government to come to our aid because if this is not addressed immediately, it can spread to many communities in the state,” the source said.

It was gathered that the community informed the state ministry of health about the disease after many people, believed to be farmers, died.

However, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Iya, who confirmed the outbreak, said it was not certain that the victims died of viral hepatitis.

“We are trying to address the issue. So we did a study to find out how many people were affected in Marhai. Our officials were at the community to conduct a survey to establish the prevalent rate of viral hepatitis. It cannot be ascertained that the deaths were as a result of viral hepatitis, he added.