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| Prof. Isaac Adewole, Minister of Health |
The Federal Government
disclosed, yesterday, that Lassa fever has claimed 41 lives from 93 reported
cases in 10 states of the country even as the Senate has summoned the Minister
of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, over the outbreak of the disease.
The
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report continues:
The
Federal Government, last Friday, put the death toll at 40 out of 86 reported
cases of Lassa fever outbreak in same 10 states. The number of the suspected
cases also rose from 86 last week to 93.
Adewole,
who confirmed this in Abuja, yesterday, at a joint ministerial news conference
on the update of the outbreak of the disease, however, said there were no new
confirmed cases or death in the last 48 hours.
He
said: “In the last 48 hours, the government raised a four-man expert committee,
chaired by Prof. Michael Asuzu, to visit Kano, Niger and Bauchi, the three most
endemic states. The committee will embark on a fact-finding mission, assess the
current situation, document response experiences, identify gaps and proffer
recommendations on how to prevent future occurrences.”
The
minister assured the public that the task of the committee was not to apportion
blame but rather to document lessons learnt for better planning of an affective
responsive.
According
to Adewole, part of the long term response is to establish an inter-ministerial
committee to deliver a final blow on Lassa fever and other related diseases.
The
committee comprised the Ministers of Education, Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Environment, Information and Culture as well as Health.
Adewole
advised communities to improve on their hygiene, including food hygiene and
food protection practices. He also urged the public to avoid contact with
rodents and rats as well as food contaminated with rat’s secretions and
excretions.
“Avoid
drying food in the open and along roadsides, it is also important to cover all
foods to prevent rodents contamination,” he said.
According
to him, the affected states are Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers,
Edo, Plateau, Gombe and Oyo.
Senate summons Adewole
Meanwhile,
the Senate, yesterday, blamed the Ministry of Health for not being proactive
which led to the outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria even as it summoned the
minister to appear before it.
According to the Senate,
the minister must appear before the Senators to explain the efforts put in
place by the ministry to combat further spread of Lassa fever in the country,
and urged Nigerians to be very conscious of the situation by adhering to rules
of reasonable hygiene. It also urged non-affected states to be educated on
preventive measures.
Lassa Fever: Lagosians Declare War On
Rats
Daily Trust reports that the recent outbreak of
the contagious Lassa fever in some states of the federation has attracted
widespread attention and much concern, with the three tiers of government
working hard to contain the disease that had, as at last weekend, claimed 40
lives out of the 86 confirmed cases in the affected 10 states.
The
states, namely, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Gombe, Plateau, Oyo, Edo
and Rivers, are in fear and confusion, while some yet-to-be-affected and
unaffected states such as Lagos, Ogun, Kwara, Imo, Enugu and others, are making
strident efforts and embarking on awareness programmes to ensure that the
disease does not spread to their states.
Lassa
fever virus is carried by rats and other rodents which infect humans through
contact with the virus in various ways, such as physical contact, contact with
the droppings and fluids of such animals, eating of foods that the infected
rodents had passed the virus on, and so on.
The
disease is further spread among humans through contact with the fluid of
infected persons, among others.
In
Lagos, there is a frenzy to ensure that the fast-spreading Lassa fever does not
‘enter’ the state.
Many
still remember how the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) ‘came’ to the state
last year and caused much havoc, including deaths, before it was combated
through collective efforts.
While
the state government has issued an alert, warning residents on the disease and
how to prevent it, the residents themselves have devised ingenious ways of
ensuring that they do not fall victim of the disease.
They
have virtually declared war on rats, as many now go on rats-killing spree,
having been alerted that contact with infected rats and their droppings and
fluids is the main cause of Lassa fever.
According
to Dr Sinmi Ezekiel, a medical practitioner at the Lagos University Teaching
Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba, “Lassa fever is an acute febrile illness, with
bleeding and death in severe cases, caused by its virus, which has an
incubation period of six to 21 days. The incubation period is followed by an
acute illness with multi-organ involvement that affects the gastrointestinal
tract, the cardiovascular system, the respiratory tract and the nervous system,
thereby making death inevitable for the affected person.”
The
Lagos State government, in the alert issued through the Ministry of Health and
signed by the Commissioner, Dr Jide Idris, had stated that, “For prevention and
control of Lassa fever, the general public is urged to avoid contact between
rats and human beings; observe good personal hygiene, including hand washing
with soap and running water regularly; dispose waste properly and clean the
environment so that rats are not attracted.”
Idris also confirmed that
Lassa fever could be treated with antiviral drugs, adding that the earlier a
person with the symptoms such as fever, headache, chills, diarrhea, nausea,
vomiting, sore throat, backache and joint pains comes forward for treatment,
the better the outcome of treatment.
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| Various brands of rat poison on display for sale at Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos. (Image source: Daily Trust) |
Plateau Quarantines 15 Relatives After
Would-Be Bride Dies Of Lassa Fever
Daily
Trust report that at least 15 persons, most of them relatives of a would-be
bride have been quarantined in a sprawling community in Plateau State after the
lady died of ailment suspected to be Lassa Fever.
Miss
Nandi Audu of Ting, a community in Kombun district of Mangu Local Government
Area, died last Saturday while arrangements for her wedding were in the final
stage.
The
deceased died at Nakowa Hospital, which has also been put under surveillance by
the local government health department, according to the chairman, Titus Bise,
who spoke to newsmen at the council, Tuesday.
He
said the health personnel of the council were directed by the management to
move quickly to quarantine persons who had contact with the deceased. He
identified them as family members, friends and medical personnel that attended
to her in the hospital.
"Right
now we have 15 persons including the medical personnel that attended to the
dead lady that are being kept under surveillance to ensure that the disease
does not spread," Bise said.
"Thank
God the World Health Organization (WHO) has assisted us with some drugs and
facilities to curb and contain any spread of the disease in the council."
Bise
said the council acted promptly, and took samples which were taken to a facility
in Owerri in Imo State for test, after the doctor at Nakowa Hospital raised
alarm. He said the laboratory test showed the lady died from Lassa Fever.
"We,
as a council, have dispatched a team of medical personnel to Ting community in
Kombun district to sensitise the people on the dangers of the disease and the
precautionary measures to be taken to avoid being contracted," Bise said.
He
called on the people to desist from eating rats or having any form of contact
with them so as to avoid being contracted with the deadly disease.
"People
should endeavour to immediately report to the nearest health clinic or hospital
around them whenever any person has either severe cough or fever or any other
symptom of the disease for medical attention,’’ he admonished.
The council boss called on
the Federal and State Governments, Corporate bodies as well as International
Organizations to come to the aid of he council in curbing the spread of the
disease. 
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