Three cases of Lassa fever discovered in Ondo

THE Ondo State government on Wednesday said three fresh cases of the virulent and deadly Lassa fever have been identified in two local government areas of the state.

Disclosing this after the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNO) across the 18 councils of the state, gave its reports to the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Dayo Adeyanju in Akure, who said the ministry was able to detect the disease in the state through the proactive measures put in place by the state government.

Adeyanju disclosed that the deadly fever was discovered in two of the state local government area which includes, Akure North and Owo local government areas of the state after samples were sent to same hospital for confirmation.

He explained that a case was first identified in Eyin-Ogbe, in Owo local government, saying the fever was confirmed at Iruwa Specialist Hospital, Edo State, while two suspected cases were also identified in Ayede-Ogbese, Akure North local government.

Adeyanju said that the DSNOs were able to spring into action due to the proactive measures put in place to sensitise the people after the outbreak of the disease in Anambra and Delta states.

He said “There is active surveillance in all our LGAs, much more so that we learnt of the last outbreak in Anambra and Delta states; we felt we were likely to be prone. Our surveillance became much more active.”

He commended the synergy between the DSNO with their immediate community saying the proactive measures have yielded results because the DSNOs and the community were able to identify the symptoms easily and promptly sprang into action.

Adeyanju however assured the people of the state that there was no cause for alarm as the confirmed case is presently receiving treatment in Iruwa, while the suspected cases were being monitored to curtail any negative eventualities.

He said “We need to keep tab on them and ensure that we are able to trace them to the last person so we can curtail it. At the moment there is no cause for alarm: the outbreak control team has been active, sensitisation has been ongoing, jingles and other resources are maximally exploited.”