About 300 students of the Federal Government Girls’ College in Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State, have been infected with an outbreak of a disease suspected to be cholera.
There were reports that parents had started rushing to retrieve their wards from the school as news of the epidemic became widespread on Thursday.
The signs were noticed on October 10, when some students showed symptoms of the infection.
Although the school principal, Grace Ogunyomi, reported the matter to the state government, no immediate action beyond the routine medical attention was provided.
It was gathered that the students were infected in small numbers, but the matter escalated on Wednesday, resulting in government action, after the principal, Ogunyomi, made a formal report.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, immediately directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr Olurotimi Ojo, to deploy professionals and drugs to help in stemming the spread of the disease.
The commissioner, however, denied that it was a cholera epidemic, saying it was a gastrointestinal infection popularly called diarrhea.
