Expert links Lassa fever to ‘Garri’

The Director of Public Health, Enugu State, Dr Boniface Okolo, says those regularly consumed cassava flakes, otherwise known as Garri may be at risk of contracting Lassa fever.

Okolo, who gave the warning on Saturday in Enugu, said the rats that caused the disease were mostly in contact with Nigerian most popular staple food ‘garri,’ a cassava product.

He added that it was necessary to discourage consumption of soaked garri since it did not require boiled water.

Okolo noted that boiled water could go a long way to kill bacteria caused by pest or rodents in garri.

“It is better that the cassava flakes called garri is used for ‘eba’, because of the use of hot water.

“We in the state health ministry are waging total war against rodents through sensitisation that is what we are doing to ensure we do not have victim of Lassa fever in the state.

“We are also sensitising the public to ensure that their fruits and raw vegetables are properly washed if they must be consumed them raw and cook to the appropriate temperature.

“The best practices for food storage should be encouraged to prevent epidemic.

”We should always make sure that we use air-tight clean plastic containers to preserve our foodstuff to avoid lassa fever and other diseases,” he said.