THE Federal Government has confirmed that at least 41 people, including two doctors at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, have died of Lassa fever in parts of the country since the beginning of 2020.
The two doctors, Dr Habib Musa Muhammad, a Consultant Anaesthesiologist, and a House Officer, Dr Ummukulthum Abba, were reported dead after operating on a pregnant woman who was a primary carrier of the disease.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire, who made the disclosure on Tuesday during a press briefing at the ministry’s secretariat in Abuja, said there were at least 258 confirmed cases recorded across 19 states in the country.
The Head, Media and Public Relations of the ministry, Enefaa Bob-Manuel, in a press statement, said the minister, who was on a visit with a team of directors from the ministry to sympathise with the families of the deceased doctors, said: “it saddened the Federal Government not only because those who lost their lives were Nigerian citizens, but also because they died in the line of duty.
The minister likened them to ‘soldiers in the war front who lost their lives in defending the country’ and described their death as ‘very unfortunate.’
He said that the disease was particularly unknown in Kano State since 89 per cent of all the cases are from Ondo, Edo and Ebonyi states. The next most prevalent he added, are Bauchi, Plateau and Taraba states.
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The minister said that Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) was working very closely with the Department of Public Health in Kano State and the state Ministry of Health to ensure that measures were put in place for quick and rapid diagnosis and treatment of the disease in the state.
Dr Ehanire reiterated that “we have brought in treatment commodities, medicines used for treating this particular disease and also personnel protective equipment materials.”
The minister declared that the mortality rate of states where Lassa fever is rampant had reduced from 30 per cent to 15 per cent and that research is already on to find a final solution to the rampaging virus in the country.
2 dead in Gombe
Also in Gombe State, two people have lost their lives, while seven suspected cases have been recorded following the outbreak of the disease in the state, with the state government saying it was on top of the health situation.
Speaking while briefing journalists on the outbreak of the disease, the Gombe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ahmed Gana, said the government had embarked on sensitisation programmes across the state
Dr Gana said: “We have a total of seven suspected cases, two of which are confirmed, while we are awaiting laboratory confirmation of the remaining five. Among these, two people have died.”
The commissioner, however, added that one death was confirmed to be Lassa fever, while the cause of death of the second death was yet to be confirmed.
He said while the state is on red alert over the outbreak, the government is activating measures to protect its people from Lassa fever
Four persons killed in Taraba
In Taraba State, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Innocent Vakkai, on Tuesday, said Lassa fever had claimed four lives so far in the state.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Vakkai told newsmen in Jalingo that 15 suspected cases were tested and five turned out positive, out of which four died.
According to the commissioner, the state government has activated its surveillance system for more case detection and proper treatment.
He noted that efforts were ongoing to create awareness among residents of the state to enlighten them about the symptoms of the disease.
He regretted that challenges such as the late report of cases to hospitals and the difficult terrain of the state remained major problems.
He revealed that the Federal Ministry of Health had promised to provide testing machines, but that the state government may acquire its equipment to reduce waiting time between suspicion and confirmation.
In Edo State, three Lassa fever patients—two pregnant women and a corps member serving in Asaba, Delta State—are currently battling for their lives at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Esan Central Local Government Area of the state.
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The two expectant women who were brought in from Ondo and Ogun states have however delivered their babies safely at the hospital, a centre for diagnosing and treatment of the dreaded disease.
The medical director of the hospital, Professor Sylvanus Okogbenin, who disclosed this on Tuesday, said so far, 61 patients were currently on admission for the disease at the hospital, while three persons had died and 27 treated and discharged since January when the latest outbreak occurred.
Okogbenin said the two women and a youth corps member who received two dialyses are currently recovering, contrary to the rumour making the rounds that the three patients had died.
The medical director said that a medical doctor from Jalingo, Taraba State, who was also admitted for the disease and had been presumed dead, was responding to treatment.
No confirmed cases of Lassa fever in Abuja
—FCT Minister
THE Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammed Musa Bello, has disclosed that there was no confirmed case of Lassa fever in the territory.
This was revealed in Abuja during an emergency meeting of medical experts and senior members of the FCT administration convened by the minister to ascertain the status of the FCT, following Lassa fever outbreaks in some neighbouring states.
The meeting, according to the minister, was also aimed to prepare the FCT health authorities to tackle a possible outbreak of the disease in the territory.
Addressing the gathering, the minister stressed that the FCT had good medical facilities, adding that an outbreak could be an indictment on the health care, especially if it is uncontained and not effectively managed.
He called on the medical experts to be prepared to forestall any outbreak, be it Lassa fever or the Coronavirus.
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