Lassa fever: Ogun gives 396 clean bill

The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr Babtunde Ipaye, has said that the 396 people who had primary and secondary contacts with the Assistant Chief Nursing Officer of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi- Aba in Abeokuta, the state capital, who died of Lassa fever, had been declared free according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard, while 19 close contacts to another new suspected Lassa fever case came out negative after being tested.

The commissioner, who  made this disclosure during an interview with newsmen, said during the process of monitoring the 396 contacts, another suspected case was recorded with about 50 contacts traced to the victim, adding that the blood samples of the  19 primary contacts out of the 50 contacts to the victim had been tested and all came out to be negative.

Ipaye said the suspected victim, who later died at UCH in  Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, could not be counted for Ogun State, saying the remaining 39 secondary contacts had been placed under close monitoring with one thermometer and health officer attached to each of them to monitor their temperature.

He said so far, none of the contacts had shown abnormal temperature since they began monitoring,  adding that the medical officers attached to each of the contacts would continue to monitor until the specified period in line with the WHO standard was exceeded before they could be medically adjudged to be free of the disease.

Ipaye said the 39 contacts to new suspected case would in less than a week be decleared free, to include the 19 close contacts who tested nagative.

While urging members of the public not to panic, the health commissioner assured that government was on top of the situation.

He stressed the need for the people to cultivate high level of hygiene, keep food items away from rats and get rid of all kinds of rats in and around their environment.