Mysterious illness kills dozens in Buuhoodle

Hargeisa (Somaliland.com) – A member of Somaliland’s House of Elders beats alarm bells over a mysterious illness that killed a dozen children in Buuhoodle district of Togdheer region. 

MP Abdihakim Omar Budeeyeh said the illness that claimed the lives of over a dozen children has baffled the doctors in the area. He added that Somaliland’s health ministry has dispatched a team to diagnose the illness. However, He said the test results have not yet returned. 

The MP offered a grim description of the progression of the illness. First, children will develop a severe fever. Then they experience fluctuations in sugar levels. It is followed by diarrhea and finally bleeding from the nose. 

Children affected by this illness are now being treated in ad hoc hospital in the area, the member of parliament added.

He called upon the government to dispatch ambulances to rescue children in remote areas. 

The deputy governor of Buuhoodle had earlier told some local media that the mysterious illness was a meningitis outbreak. 

Ineffective government presence in the area has contributed to the severity of the crisis and slow response.

Buuhoodle is a Somaliland territory but is also claimed by Puntland State of Somalia, with neither maintaining effective governance in the district.