The Federal Government yesterday confirmed the death of 40 Nigerians in a Lassa fever outbreak in 10 states of the country.
Eighty-six people were infected in
Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo, Plateau, Gombe and
Oyo ,according to Health Minister Isaac Adewole.
The World Health Organisation (WHO)
defines Lassa fever as an acute haemorrhagic illness which belongs to
the arenarvirus family of viruses, which also includes the Ebola-like
Marburg virus.
Adewole called the outbreak an embarrassment .
“It is not the outbreak that is
unusual; what is unusual is the large number of deaths recorded so far
and these deaths came largely from three states; Kano, Bauchi and
Niger,” Adewole told reporters yesterday while giving an update on the
situation in Abuja.
He said the situation in Niger is
“worrisome because we had unusual deaths dating back to August and only
came to light about three to four months after and that represents a
breakdown in disease notification system and we are trying to strengthen
this because deaths even when they are unusual should be reported and
we should not have waited for 35 cases in Niger before sitting up and
that is the worrisome part of it.
He spelt out measures to check the spread of the disease.
These include avoiding contact with rats and food or objects contaminated with rats’ secretions or excretion.
Shedding light on disease,he said: “The
onset of the disease is usually gradual, starting with fever, general
weakness, and malaise followed by headache, sore throat, muscle pain,
chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cough, and bleeding from mouth,
nose, vagina and gastrointestinal tract and low blood pressure.
“The virus is shed in the urine and
droppings of the rats and can be transmitted through direct contact,
touching objects or eating food contaminated with these materials or
through cuts or sores and the incubation period is 6 to 21 days.”
He asked health facilities across the
country to place emphasis on routine infection prevention and control
measures and ensure that all patients are treated free.
Health workers seeing patients suspected
to have the fever were advised to contact the following numbers:
08093810105, 08163215251, 08031571667 and 0813505005.
The first case of the disease was recorded last November in Bauchi state. Cases were then reported in Kano and other places.
The Lagos State government on Thursday
alerted residents on the need to observe proper hygiene to curb the
spread of the disease.
One of the Lassa fever deaths occurred in Plateau State.
Consequently, the authorities have placed a team of medical experts on the red alert to prevent its spread.
The disease has been noticed in Jos North, Mangu, Langtang South, Pankshin and Shendam Local Government Areas.
Health Commissioner Kuden Kamshak who
briefed the press in Jos yesterday said the state, with support from
the World Health Organisation (WHO), “is working round the clock to
contain the spread of the virus.”
Accordingly, Disease Survellance and
Notification Officers (DSNO) have been deployed in each of the 17
local governments in the state to monitor and manage the health
challenge.
The commissioner urged residents not to
panic but remain calm and vigilant, and to report promptly to the
nearest health care facility.
The Niger State government issued a similar don’t panic advice yesterday on the Lassa fever outbreak.
Health and Health Services
Commissioner Mustapha Jibril in a statement in Minna said that
measures were being put in place to address the development as blood
samples of those suspected to have been infected had been taken for
laboratory test at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in Abuja and
Lagos.
He said: “The Ministry of Health and
Health Services has swung into action in collaboration with the Federal
Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) and the local
government to bring the situation under control,” Jibril stated.
The Commissioner said that his ministry
had strengthened monitoring and surveillance on the affected communities
in Fuka ward of Muyan Local Government area of the state.
He then called on members of the public
with to come up with information on any suspected disease or death to
the nearest health facilities.
Source: THENATION