According to a statement issued by the Information Officer of a local government council, in Kano State, at least 11 children have died of whooping cough at a community in the state.

The Kiru Local Government Council of Kano State says about 11 children have died of whooping cough at Kankwana village.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Information Officer of the local government council, Malam Rabiu Khalil.

Mr. Khalil said about 40 other children affected by the same disease were receiving medical attention.

Hassan Adamu, the council’s Health Officer, who also confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria, however assured of government’s effort to contain the outbreak.

Yakubu Sani, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the area, attributed the outbreak to poor routine immunisation and inadequate health mobilisation activities.

The District Head of the area, Hamza Bayero, however, urged government to provide emergency medical care to residents to prevent further spread of the disease.

About six children had lost their lives to measles in Dashi community of the same local government area in the past two months.