Edo records 521 cases of Lassa fever as Meningitis kills 4

About 521 suspected cases of Lassa fever have been recorded in February in Edo state, a senior official says.

Director of Disease Control in the state, Osamuwonyi Irowa disclosed this during the launching of the Emergency Operation Centre on Lassa fever in Benin. He said 124 cases have been confirmed out of the 521 suspected cases recorded in 13 local government areas of the state.

Irowa also disclosed that 15 deaths were recorded with 509 cases under surveillance, while 10 suspected cases had developed symptoms.

Also, Phillip Shaibu, Deputy Governor of the state, said at the launching that the Lassa fever response mechanism was aimed at ensuring a coordinated control of the epidemic.

He charged the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, to encourage volunteers to support their staff for effective control of the disease.

He assured that the state government was working towards building isolation centres to decongest the patient population at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital

Meanwhile, four people have died from Cerebrospinal Meningitis in Niger state as a result of the outbreak of the disease.

Mustapha Jubril, the state commissioner of health confirmed this on Wednesday.

He said presently, about 31 cases have been reported with nine laboratory tests confirmed. The four deaths were recorded in Katcha local government area of the state.

However, two local governments are said to be affected by the outbreak which are Katcha and Magama local government Area, both in Niger state.