Lagos state records first Lassa fever case

Jerrywright Ukwu

– Lagos state has recorded its first case of Lassa fever since the outbreak of the disease in Nigeria
– The patient is currently in isolation at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital
– 364 cases of Lassa fever have been identified across 23 states with 47 deaths recorded so far.

Lagos state has recorded its first case of Lassa fever since the outbreak of the disease in the country.

Lassa fever, a hemorrhagic fever, caused by the Lassa virus, is currently raging in over 19 states in the country.

The Lagos state commissioner for health Professor Akin Abayomi, in a statement sent to journalists on Wednesday, February 19 confirmed that the patient is currently in isolation at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

He stressed the need for members of the public to ensure and maintain adequate personal hygiene and environmental sanitation at all times as part of prevention and control measures against the spread of the disease in the state.

Earlier in the year, the Lagos state government trained 342 medical personnel as first-level emergency responders for communicable diseases in the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas of the state.

This was disclosed by the director-general, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu.

The training was a component of collaborative efforts with the federal authorities to contain the spread and possibility of entry into Nigeria of communicable diseases such as coronavirus, Lassa fever and others.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the rodent population is the reason for the presence of Lassa fever in some West African countries like Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

A medical superintendent, Dr Abayomi Ogunbekun, recently said everything should be done to ensure Lagos does not experience an outbreak. (LEGIT NEWS)