LASSA FEVER SPREADS IN RIVERS STATE.

After initial reports of outbreaks of Lassa Fever in
Kano and Taraba states, a nursing mother and
her two weeks-old baby were reported to have
died of the disease in Port Harcourt, Rivers State
last week, journalists learnt yesterday.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr.
Theophilus Odagme, disclosed this to newsmen in
Port Harcourt yesterday.
“The incident happened between December 30,
2015 and January 1, 2016 involving a mother and
later her two weeks-old child. Yesterday at about
10 pm, I received a call that a mother and her
child had died in a hospital following a similar
and serious fever which killed them suspected to
be Lassa Fever. After series of tests conducted on
them it was confirmed that they died of the
disease”, he said.
Dr. Odagme said the government had started
work with the World Health Organization (WHO)
to prevent outbreak of the disease in the state.
He said contact tracing had begun and
sensitization of healthcare providers was ongoing
to address the disease.
The commissioner appealed to residents with
symptoms of the disease to visit any nearest
government hospital for diagnosis.
He also urged residents to maintain high sense of
hygiene, identifying some of the symptoms as
high fever, vomiting, bleeding from the nose,
mouth and anus.
Dr. Odagme advised members of the public to
ensure that their food and foodstuff are properly
covered to avoid contact with rodents.
Similar outbreaks had been reported in Kano and
Taraba States.
The federal government was reported to have
dispatched drugs and a medical team to Taraba
State after the outbreak was reported last week.
Taraba State Commissioner for Health, Innocent
Vakkai, said on Sunday that one person had died
and two others were quarantined as the state
moved to contain the ailment.
The Director, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control,
Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi, in a text message to
Daily Trust yesterday confirmed the outbreaks,
saying they were taking steps to control the
situation. He earlier told newsmen that five cases
and three deaths had been recorded from
preliminary reports and expressed great concern
on the development. He described the fatality rate
as high, noting that the deaths so far were largely
because the infected persons did not report early
for treatment. He dismissed rumours of another
outbreak in Niger State, saying a medical team,
drugs and other supplies had been dispatched to
Taraba to help manage the outbreak. Nasidi said
the rate was ‘terrible.’
“We are still reviewing the preliminary report. We
have sent teams to Taraba. We are already
working on all the samples collected. We have
even sent some drugs already”, he told newsmen
as he advised states bordering Taraba to step up
surveillance to check spread of the disease.
“Anybody with fever, severe headache, difficulty to
swallow and breathing should be treated with
dispatch. There should be no waste of time at all.
They should start taking measures”, he warned.
The director noted that patients present some
symptoms similar to those of malaria.
In Kano State, two fresh cases of the disease
were reported late last year at the Aminu Kano
Teaching Hospital, prompting the government to
establish an emergency control centre to curtail
spread.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabiru
Ibrahim Getso, noted that an isolation centre was
created for the management of the disease after
a man and his son who later died at Aminu
Kano Teaching Hospital were referred from a
primary health care centre. He said about 20
people who had contact with the victims had
been traced and were placed under observation.