The death toll from the suspected poisonous alcoholic substance outbreak in Ondo State has risen to 49, while the number of affected persons has increased to 170.
The state Commissioner for Health, Banji Ajaka, disclosed the latest figures on Wednesday while giving an update on the outbreak, noting that eight of the deaths were recorded in Irele Local Government Area.
He said health authorities were intensifying surveillance, case management, and contact tracing across the affected communities as efforts continued to contain the outbreak.
The Commissioner said the state government was yet to establish the source of the suspected poisonous substance, adding that investigators were examining whether the poisoning originated from a single source or multiple sources.
According to him, response teams had been deployed to affected communities to monitor developments, manage cases, and trace the source of the substance.
Ajaka said the government remained committed to identifying the cause of the outbreak and preventing further loss of lives.