A national overview of the situation in the Daily Trust: Death toll rises as deadly Lassa fever rages on.
Lassa fever has so far affected 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, even as federal and state governments work to contain it. The death of one person each in Jigawa and Ebonyi states this week has added to the number of states affected by Lassa fever.
These include Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, Rivers, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Ekiti, Lagos, Gombe, Oyo, Bauchi, Kano, Ondo, Jigawa states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. In Jigawa State 26 people were quarantined, while another was diagnosed with the disease, the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Abba Zakari disclosed.
The first case in Ebonyi came four days after the state commissioner for Health, Dr. Umezurike, denied any recorded case. State governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, said in Abakaliki that the victim who died on Monday in his hostel was a 26-year-old male student of the state university (EBSU) and he had instructed the state ministries of Health and Education to quarantine close friends of the deceased, including his roommate and those living in the same hostel.
Akwa Ibom State also confirmed its first victim from the Lassa fever disease recently. The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong, said the victims were diagnosed with the virus at different locations of the state. He said the dead victim, a 53-year-old woman, died shortly after she was diagnosed and advised the public to visit the hospital once they notice any of the symptoms.
In a related development, Taraba State, which has been on the list of states affected recorded four more deaths, bringing the number of victims in the state to seven, head of clinical services, Federal Medical Centre, Jaingo, Dr. Iliya Attah has confirmed.
In an effort to check spread of the virus which has claimed three lives, Rivers State revealed over 400 persons were being ‘followed’. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Theophilus Odagme said they were ‘followed’ after the death of the medical doctor that passed on at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH), Port Harcourt, after contacting the disease.
Rivers State has launched a campaign to eliminate rats, while Lagos State has declared a war on rodents in communities and markets across the state and has so far killed about 7, 423 rodents since the campaign took off.
An earlier advice by the Medical and Health Workers Union, Lagos State council, to Nigerians to stop drinking soaked garri because of Lassa fever has generated intense reactions, with experts saying an attack on garri staple could create needless panic.
A virologist and co-founder of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) Dr Alash’le G. Abimiku has said sustained heat can help kill the Lassa fever virus. He said if people are afraid to drink soaked gari because of Lassa fever, then they have to worry about every other food.
Lassa fever has so far killed over 44 people across Nigeria. It was first discovered in Lassa town, Borno State, in 1969.
