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 on 4th January.
“The incident happened between December 30, 2015 and January 1, 2016 involving a mother and later her two week-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.
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.
The federal government was reported to have dispatched drugs and a medical team to Taraba State after the outbreak was reported last week.
The Director of 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.
n 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.
Source: Daily Trust