Lassa fever killed 84 in 23 states – NCDC
Confirms cases in Kaduna
Lassa fever has killed 84 persons across 23 states since the beginning of this year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said. The director-general of the agency, Dr Jide Idris, said this yesterday while briefing newsmen in Abuja.
He said 476 confirmed cases and 2,621 suspected cases of Lassa fever were recorded in 84 local government areas as of February 18 this year.
Dr Idris said the NCDC was notified Thursday by the Kaduna State Ministry of Health of the report of deaths from suspected viral hemorrhagic fever at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna .
He said that following the notification, the NCDC had been working with both institutions to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the suspected cases, as well as ramp up response activities.
He said that four of the six blood samples from suspected cases sent to the Bayero University Teaching Hospital in Kano had been confirmed for Lassa fever.
He said, “Furthermore, 25 close contacts of all these cases are now under follow-up and placed on prophylactic medicine.
“The State Ministry of Health has also activated their Incident Management System with all the response pillars, including intensified risk communication and community engagement for the prevention and control of Lassa fever in the affected communities.”
Dr Idris said the NCDC, through the recently activated multi-sectoral multidisciplinary Incident Management System, had distributed medical supplies for case management, infection prevention and control, and laboratory diagnosis in all the Lassa fever treatment centres in the country.
He said they had also commenced capacity building exercises of some health care workers across all the geopolitical zones, among others.
The NCDC director-general said the agency was working assiduously with other stakeholders under the Lassa fever task force towards the development of a vaccine for Lassa fever in order to reduce the burden of the disease in the country.