Gammalin 20, not cholera, caused mass killing in Adamawa, says government. promedmail.org. December 20, 2010. Adamawa state Government has given more insight into the outbreak of [suspected] cholera in the northern senatorial district of the state which has so far claimed over 300 lives.The State commissioner for health, Dr Tijjani Maksha, told newsmen in Yola Friday (17 Dec 2010) that the killer disease is not cholera, but a waterborne disease linked to Gammalin 20. According to the state commissioner, a river that runs through all the 5 local Governments was poisoned with Gammalin 20 either by fishermen or saboteurs resulting in the massive killing of people, especially children and the aged.Dr. Maksha disclosed that a team of medical experts drafted to the area said that the rising death toll occasioned by the epidemic is associated with the poisoning of river tributaries in all the local governments in the northern parts of the state. He added that concerted moves are on to combat the epidemic scourge, even as the death toll has continued to rise.But, he was quick to add that things being equal, the ravaging epidemic is under control already. He gave an assurance that the affected local government, especially the communities using the rivers as their main sources of drinking water, have been directed to stop forthwith as alternative sources are being provided for them.The councils are Michika, Madagali, Mubi North, Mubi South and Maiha.[Byline: Umar Yusuf] Source: Vanguard Online [edited