The spread of Lassa fever to 11 states has put state governments in the country on red alert as they prepare to check further spread of the disease. Governor Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has inaugurated a 22-man action committee on the prevention of the disease in his state.
In a similar development, the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria (EHOAN) in Lagos State has initiated plans to rid markets in the state of rodents to check the spread. The association, according to its chairman, Mr. Samuel Akingbehin, will start the exercise today, taking one local government or council development area per day. In collaboration will be security agencies, executive members of the various markets and health officers in the state.
In Bayelsa State, the government has directed the 15-man emergency response team constituted during the Ebola outbreak in the country to be on alert in case of possible outbreak in the state.
In Ekiti State, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olurotimi Ojo, revealed that the government had commenced massive sensitization of people on personal hygiene and the need to report suspected cases to appropriate authorities for proper management.
The death of a medical doctor, Dr. Livy Ijamala, on Thursday brought the total number of deaths from the disease to 44 nationwide. Ijamala was attached to the Rivers State-owned Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMHS) and was said to have contracted the disease from patients that were being treated at the hospital.
His death brings to three the number of deaths in the state. Abuja’s first Lassa fever victim, a 33-year-old man, was announced Wednesday by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, bringing the number of states affected by the disease to 11.
The deceased was first treated in a private hospital in Kubwa before being moved to the National Hospital. He was said to have come from Plateau State with the illness. Bauchi, the first state to record the outbreak of Lassa fever, has a record of three deaths between November last year and this month.
A consultant on infectious diseases at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Dr. Abdulrahman Tahir, who confirmed this, said the cost of Lassa fever treatment is high, adding that the kits cost at least N20, 000 and the hospital has limited stock. He also lamented that the testing centre for the disease is located far from the state.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, listed the states so far affected as Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo, Plateau, Gombe and Oyo. The minister revealed that the ministry had released adequate quantities of Ribavirin, the specific antiviral drug for Lassa fever, to all the affected states. The first case of the recent outbreak was reported in Bauchi in November last year.
The ministry has advised on proper hygiene, keeping of food away from rodents and reporting of persistent cases of fever and vomiting. Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus, was first discovered in 1969 in Lassa Town, Borno State. It has continued to plague the country intermittently since then.
