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Tag: Lassa fever

  • Lassa fever: Primary healthcare director confirms two cases in Igarra, Edo

    Lassa fever: Primary healthcare director confirms two cases in Igarra, Edo

    The Director of Primary Health Care in Akoko-Edo Local Government Council of Edo, Dr Sunday Yerumoh, on Monday confirmed two cases of Lassa fever in the locality.

    Yerumoh made the confirmation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Igarra, the administrative headquarters of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area.

    He disclosed that the patients were quickly admitted in the Surveillance Unit of the local government health care centre, when health personnel noticed that they displayed symptoms of Lassa fever.

    “The patients were brought to the surveillance unit of the local government and their blood samples were positive.

    “And in conjunction with the Institute of Lassa Fever Control at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, we quickly moved them to Irrua and we were able to contain the spread of the disease,’’ he said.

    Yerumoh said the patients were currently responding to treatment at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.

    He advised the public to ensure that they maintained a very high standard of personal hygiene and ensure that their environment was kept clean.

    Yerumoh said that the council had stepped up its campaign on maintaining a clean environment at all times, to stem the tide of the virus, and urged people of the community to be vigilant and avoid contact with rats.

    “We need to step up preventive measures and this means people must maintain a high level of hygiene at all times.

    “Foodstuffs should be kept in rodent-proof containers and people should also desist from drying their food stuffs on the road, as they never can tell when rats will defecate or urinate on them,’’ he said.

    The primary healthcare director said the local government would continue to sensitise the community on the danger of lassa fever and other related diseases.

    “We will continue to carry out sensitisation at every flag-off opportunity of our health programme, to enable our disease surveillance officers to enlighten the people on the danger of lassa fever and other related diseases.

    “We will continue to go round the communities to sensitise the people to ensure they keep their environment clean from any form of diseases,’’ he said.

    Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus.

    The virus is commonly transmitted by rats with symptoms including fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, muscle pains, bleeding, and multi-organ involvement.

  • Lassa Fever kills pupil in Jos

    One pupil of the Federal Government College, Langtang, Plateau State, has died of Lassa fever. Two others have been hospitalised.

    Commissioner for Health Kuden Deyin, who confirmed this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, said: “Yes, there was an outbreak of Lassa Fever at the Federal Government College, Langtang; it has claimed one life, while two others are in the hospital.”

    According to him, four pupils were rushed from the school clinic to the Jos University Teaching Hospital.

    “The pupils showed symptoms of Lassa Fever and we immediately took their blood samples to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, where three tested positive.

    “One of those who tested positive is dead, while the other two are still on admission at JUTH,” he said.

    Deyin said the government had met with the school principal and advised her to halt resumption from the mid-term break.

    The commissioner advised families with children in the school to observe them and report any symptom to JUTH, Plateau Specialist Hospital or the Bingham University Teaching Hospital.

    “Any child, who manifests symptoms of fever and bleeding from any part of the body, should be rushed to any of these hospitals for prompt evaluation,” he added.

  • No Lassa fever in Ogun, says commissioner

    Ogun State Health Commissioner Dr Babatunde Ipaye has said the state’s Disease Surveillance Officers (DSOs) in the 20 local government areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) have been strengthened and put on the alert to control any outbreak of disease or epidemic in any part of the state.

    Ipaye addressed reporters yesterday at his office in Abeokuta, the state capital, on the possible spread of Lassa fever in the state, following a reported case of the disease in neighbouring Ondo State.

    The commissioner said there was no reported case of Lassa fever in Ogun State.

    He said the Ibikunle Amosun administration had adopted the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard to take precautions at hospitals as well as communities.

    Ipaye said the ministry was also educating the public on the mode of transmission of the virus and need for proper hygiene and environmental sanitation to prevent an outbreak of the disease.

    The commissioner added that surveillance offices across the state had been mobilised, since a case was recorded in neighbouring Ondo State.

    According to him, the Ipokia, Oja-Odan, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun-Waterside and other surveillance offices had been reactivated for a likely outbreak of any disease or epidemic.

    He said: “As I am talking to you now, all our diseases notification and surveillance officers and mechanisms have been reactivated to curtail any spread of diseases in the state. So, for now, there is no case of any Lassa fever in Ogun State…

    “Lassa fever is a severe and often fatal haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus. Since its original discovery in 1969 in Nigeria, there have been countless cases of high magnitude and severity across West Africa, not Nigeria alone. But due to scarce resources to diagnose the illness as well as inadequate surveillance, many cases remain unaccounted for.”

  • No case of Lassa fever in Ogun – says commissioner

    No case of Lassa fever in Ogun – says commissioner

    The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, says its Diseases Surveillance Officer (DSO), across the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas, has been strengthened and on red alert to combat any forms of disease outbreak or epidemic in the state.

    Ipaye made this known while fielding questions from journalists in his office in Abeokuta, on the possible spread of Lassa fever in Ogun as it has been reported in the neighbouring state of Ondo.

    He stressed that there was no case of Lassa fever in Ogun, as the state government had adopted the standard of World Health Organisation (WHO) in following proper standard precautions in hospitals as well as communities and educating the public on the mode of transmission of the virus, and need for proper hygiene and environmental sanisation.

     

  • ‘No Lassa fever outbreak at Achievers Varsity’

    Vice Chancellor of Achievers University at Owo in Ondo State, Prof Tunji Ibiyemi, yesterday said there was no outbreak of Lassa fever at the university.

    He said what happened was an isolated case of them infectious disease.

    The vice chancellor affirmed that a student of the institution reported at its health centre for treatment, adding that she was referred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) at Owo when she was not responding to treatment.

    It was at the medical centre she was diagnosed with Lassa fever symptoms, he said.

    Prof Ibiyemi said the affected student had stabilised and ready to be discharged.

    According to him, investigation by the university revealed that the affected student contracted the disease from outside the campus.

    The vice chancellor said none of her roommates and friends, who had been screened, had symptoms of the ailment.

    Addressing reporters at Owo, Prof Ibiyemi said the report on suspected outbreak of the disease was the handiwork of some online media.

    The vice chancellor, who was accompanied by other principal officers of the institution, said the Achievers University accorded priority to the well-being of its workers and students.

  • Lassa fever: NYSC fumigates Taraba camp

    Lassa fever: NYSC fumigates Taraba camp

    The Director of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Taraba, Mrs. Altine Akyam, on Friday said the service has fumigated the camp and the state secretariat ahead of resumption of orientation course on May 23.

    The move was to prevent outbreak of Lassa fever and other haemorrhagic fever in the camp.

    Akyam disclosed this while briefing journalists on the preparedness of the service to receive corps members for the Batch “A” orientation course in the state.

    She noted that the decision followed the death of a corps member, Miss Lilian Nkechi, of Lassa fever in February.

    Akyam, who said the state was expecting 2,400 corps members, added that they had put in place a good medical team to take care of corps members’ health during orientation.

    She said, “I want to appeal to the people of Taraba to accord the prospective corps members a warm reception.

    “Most of them would be coming to Taraba for the first time and I urge the people of the state, especially road transport workers, to treat corps members with love as they arrived.”

    NAN

     

  • Panic as Corps member dies of Lassa fever in Cross River 

    Panic as Corps member dies of Lassa fever in Cross River 

    There is panic in Obubra local government area of Cross River State following the death of a National Youth Service Corps member who was serving in the area.

    The Corps member, Onwuegbuzie Stanley Samuel was serving in Community Secondary School, Ofodua in Obubra.

    It was gathered that the late corps member fell ill of the disease and was taken to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) where he died around 8pm on Friday.

    Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Betta Edu, who confirmed the unfortunate incident, said the situation was under control.

    “Unfortunately somebody died Friday.  A corps member serving in Obubra. He got Lassa fever and was rushed to the teaching hospital in Calabar and he died there around 8pm. What we are essentially doing now is to see how we can reduce that panic, educate the people and send health workers to the community to do more of sensitization so that people would know what the disease is and how they can prevent it,” Edu said.

    Principal of the school where the Corps member worked, Mr Umenyi Igiri said, “He took ill on the 1st of May. He was feeling feverish. He went to a clinic where he was given drugs. The drugs they gave him there seemed to relieve him.  Towards the end of last week, on Saturday precisely it became very serious. He was admitted to a private clinic and when it got worse he was transferred to the General Hospital in Obubra on Sunday night. Again they could not manage the situation and he was referred to Calabar. I arranged for a chartered vehicle that drove him to Calabar on Monday. It was there he died.”

     

  • Kogi confirms one Lassa fever case

    Kogi confirms one Lassa fever case

    The Kogi State government has confirmed one Lassa fever case at Angwan Kura in Lokoja, Kogi State.

    The patient, a male resident of Angwan Kura, reported at the accident and emergency unit of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Lokoja with symptoms suggestive of haemorrhagic fever.

    His blood sample was sent to the laboratory of the Federal Specialist Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, and it came back positive.

    The patient was later transferred to the Federal Specialist Hospital, Irrua, for optimal care.

    Commissioner for Health Dr. Saka Haruna Audu, who confirmed the case, said the State Rapid Response Team was summoned and provisions made for source/contact tracing and prophylactic treatment for medical personnel who had contact with the patient before transfer.

    He added: “All these have been concluded as those who had contact with the patient are being closely monitored.

    “It is important to note that the patient travelled to Ilorin, Kwara State, where he stayed for two weeks. He only developed symptoms of haemorrhagic fever two days after his return. We are, therefore, uncertain whether he contracted the virus there or here in Lokoja.”

    Audu added that measures are being taken “to prevent further spread of the disease as jingles and other means of public enlightenment are on.”

  • Gombe adopts proactive measures against Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM)

    The Gombe State Government says it has adopted proactive measures against the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

    Dr Kennedy Ishaya, the state Commissioner for Health, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Friday shortly after meeting with the state committee on Epidemic Rapid Response on health issues.

    Kennedy said the one of the measures introduced by the government was the vaccination of one to six year olds before the commencement of each rainy season. He said government would focus on that particular age group because they are the most vulnerable whenever an outbreak of disease occurred.

    The commissioner noted that with the rainy season fast approaching, there was usually CSM and other communicable disease outbreak.

    “Although we have not recorded any CSM case in Gombe state but we want to take precautions to curtail the problem in case it happens.

    “We have been receiving unconfirmed cases of CSM sporadically but they were treated even before their sample was taken for test.

    “Gombe people travel daily to the North West where cases of CSM were reported.

    “There are the likelihood of importing the case to Gombe hence the need to take preventive measures,” he said.

    “We want to make arrangements of adequate drugs ahead of time, we do not want fire brigade approach,” Kennedy said.

    The commissioner also said the state was considering the possibility of establishing a laboratory in Gombe, instead of taking samples to Lagos.

    He said the meeting focused on four health issues threatening human lives; namely, CSM, measles, Lassa fever and Polio.

    Kennedy advised residents against killing of cats “because they are a natural predator of rats”.

    “Stop killing cats, they are natural predator of rats, and we are all aware that rats cause Lassa fever,” he said.

    He added that the state government has secured about 200 ampoules of Lassa fever drugs in case of outbreak.

     

  • ‘Cats are natural allies in lassa fever fight, protect them’

    ‘Cats are natural allies in lassa fever fight, protect them’

    Gombe State Commissioner of Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya on Friday cautioned against any act capable of reducing the population of cats in the state.

    Speaking to newsmen shortly after a meeting of the state Rapid Response Team on Epidemics, the commissioner described cats as natural allies in the fight against lassa fever, as such should be protected.

    He said the meeting focused on four health issues which were of threat to human lives, namely CSM, Measles, Lassa fever and Polio.

    According to him, cats are natural predators of rats, the carriers of lassa fever, as such dependable means of reducing the rat population in the state.

    “People should stop killing cats as they are natural predator of rats and we are all aware that rats cause Lassa fever,” he said.

    Ishaya also revealed plans by his ministry to commence vaccination of children below the age of six, to protect them against Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

    He said they decided to focus on that particular age group because they were the most vulnerable whenever there was outbreak of communicable diseases.

    “Rainy season is fast approaching and usually CSM is associated with winds.

    “Although we have not recorded any CSM case in Gombe state, we want to take precautions,” he said.

    The commissioner said the state government was exploring the possibility of establishing laboratory in Gombe for screening of suspected cases instead of taking samples to Lagos.