The Federal Government on Friday confirmed the death of 40 people
out of 86 reported cases of Lassa fever outbreak in 10 states. Prof. Isaac
Adewole, Minister of Health, said this in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the
outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever. 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. The minister said affected
states have been advised to intensify awareness creation on the signs and
symptoms of the disease.
According
to him, the affected states are Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers,
Edo, Plateau, Gombe and Oyo. “The public is hereby assured that
government and its partners and other stakeholders are working tirelessly to
address the outbreak and bring it to timely end,” said the minister.
He said
the ministry had ordered for the immediate release of adequate quantities of
“ribavirin”, the specific antiviral drug for Lassa fever, to the affected
states for prompt treatment of cases. Adewole added that the ministry
deployed rapid response teams to all affected states to assist in investigating
and verifying the cases as well as tracing of contacts.
He said
also clinicians and relevant health care workers had been sensitized and mobilized in areas of patient management and care in the affected states.
Besides,
he advised family members and health care workers to always be careful and
avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for sick persons infected
by the disease.
He also
directed health facilities in the country to emphasize routine infection
prevention and control measures and ensure that all Lassa fever patients are
treated free.
Adewole
said Nigeria has the capability to diagnose Lassa fever, adding that “all the
cases reported so far were confirmed by our laboratories”.
“The
ministry would not impose travel restrictions as a form of control measure ‘from
and to’ the areas currently affected by the outbreak,” Adewole said. The
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the first case of the current
outbreak was reported from Bauchi in November.
Source: Vanguard
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