Cough, sneeze in your elbow not handkerchief to stay healthy Protecting yourself from Lassa fever

Lassa fever was recently reported in Ebonyi, Kogi and some other states in Nigeria which is one of the countries that has been experiencing sporadic outbreaks of the disease over the years.

It is important for the general public to imbibe some preventive measures to protect themselves from the disease.

The disease, which was first detected in Nigeria in 1969, comes with bleeding and death in severe cases. It has an incubation period of 6-21 days.

The virus is carried in rats which normally live in bushes and visit nearby homes for food, which they contaminate.

Lassa fever outbreak was most likely during the dry season, because bush burning drives rats from bushes into homes.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Lassa fever (LF) is a viral hemorrhagic illness, caused by contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.

The Lassa virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of a person infected with Lassa fever, laboratory transmission can also occur.

The centre said the disease is characterized by sudden onset of fever and general weakness. Other symptoms include headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cough, and abdominal pain may follow.

In the most severe cases, individuals may bleed from the mouth, nose, eyes or other parts of the body.

Medical experts say it is important for individuals, health workers, families and communities to improve on their personal hygiene and also ensure that their houses are free from rats, and properly cover all foods and drinks.

A consultant physician and coordinator for Lassa fever at the National Hospital Abuja, Dr Ogugua Osi-Ogbu, said it was necessary for people to keep their environments clean, protect their food, utensils they use to eat, water or anything they ingest through their mouths.

She said people should not leave water open but keep it safe in a container with tight cover that would be difficult for rat to enter.

“The cover of your pot or water must be ‘rat proof’; the rat must not be able to easily displace it. The same thing goes for food. Washing our utensil is very necessary; cups, plates, cutlery must be thoroughly washed before usage. You don’t just pick them and use for the sake that it has earlier been washed not minding if rats had perched on them.

“When rats have played on them and you don’t wash before use, your food will be contaminated,” she said.

The physician noted that not every fever was malaria, and advised that when people have fever that has been treated and it’s not going away, they must visit the hospital because there