317 Lassa Fever Cases in 2 Months Eclipse Entire 2017 Record
The ongoing Lassa fever epidemic reached record high with 317 cases in the first two months of 2018, surpassing the total cases recorded for the entire 2017.
This week alone, laboratory tests confirmed 54 new cases of the disease in eight states, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Between January 1 and February 25, 1,081 cases suspected to be Lassa have been reported across 18 states and 90 people have died.
In the first six weeks of 2018 alone, some 458 cases were supposed to be Lassa: 125 were confirmed by lab tests, and 36 people died across 27 states.. by contrast last year, 138 suspected cases were reported across 10 states and 21 people died.
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At least 69% of the all the infections this year have been in Edo and Ondo states.The latest confirmed infections also come from Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Plateau, Kogi, Imo and Ekiti—and include 14 health workers.
Over the weekend, 42 people were hospitalised at Irrua Specialist Hospital, which runs a reference lab for Lassa fever. All 21 isolation beds at Federal Medical Centre, Owo are occupied, NCDC said in its situation report.
Ten new deaths have been recorded in Ondo, Edo, Plateau, Ekiti, and Ebonyi.
At least 2,845 have been identified across states, and 1,897 are currently being followed up to determine their status.
NCDC has called on residents in most-affected states of Ondo, Edo and Ebonyi to keep focus on prevention by keeping rodents away from foodstuff.
“For those that fall ill with fever, it is important to go to a healthcare facility in order to get a test that will determine the cause of the fever, before treating,” it said in its latest situation report on Wednesday.
Health minister Isaac Adewole has asked states to invest resources to protect health of residents by informing them of risks and simple measures to prevent infection.
NCDC activated a reference laboratory in Abuja, adding a third to the two existing labs that can test for Lassa at Irrua and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.
Efforts are currently being made to ensure that there is a functional molecular laboratory with the capacity to test for Lassa fever in each of the six geopolitical zones in the country, the centre said.
Meanwhile the West African Health Organisation is helping coordinate response in neighbouring Benin Republic, where 20 cases have been reported.
By: Judd-Leonard Okafor
Daily Trust News
