Lassa kills one in Delta, casualties rise to 44 nationwide

Lassa Fever has killed a 65-year-old woman in Delta, after being diagnosed and treated at the St. Joseph Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre in the state.

The victim was said to be a native of Ifiogwari village, Ayamelunu, in Anambra

The virus has killed no fewer than 44 people since the outbreak hit Taraba early this year.

The outbreak started in August at Foka in Niger, killing 17 people. Worse still the state, this year, has recorded the highest number of casualties—16.

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who appeared before the Senate ast week, described the current outbreak as a national embarrassment.

Adewole said it was surprising that the disease which had been in Nigeria for decades has refused to go away, noting that unlike Ebola which was alien to the nation, Lassa fever has been in existence in Nigeria for decades.

“Unlike Ebola, which took the nation by surprise last year, after being imported from Liberia by an infected person, Lassa fever which has over the years registered its presence in the country, supposed not to have taken us by surprise, but had infected people reported promptly,” he said.

He said this outbreak has become an epidemic, spreading across 10 states of the federation because its infection as well as death of victims were not promptly reported to appropriate authorities.

Nine laboratories have been designated across the country for prompt detection of the infectious virus usually transmitted by rodents to man.
Six of the laboratories, are located in Ibadan, Abuja, Maiduguri, Kano, Irrua and Lagos.