Lassa fever: 3 die in Kano, 292 placed on watchlist

Lassa fever: 3 die in Kano, 292 placed on watchlist

- There is a Lassa fever outbreak and Kano is one of the worst-hit states

- Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease which is caused by a virus named Lassa virus

- It can be transmitted to humans via multimammate rats and occurs mostly in rural communities

The outbreak of Lassa fever in Kano state has so far claimed the lives of three persons with 292 others placed on a watch list.

This was disclosed by the state commissioner of health, Aminu Tsanyawa, on Wednesday, January 22.

According to him, a pregnant woman, and two medical doctors who diagnosed her have died of the fever.

He revealed that the ministry currently has a total of 292 persons who had contact with the said victims on a watch list.

One of the doctors is said to be a top-notch surgeon in the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Dr Usman Abba.

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He met his untimely death while trying to save the life of a woman who unknown to his team had Lassa fever.

Critics say his death is avoidable and has exposed the poor screening systems in Nigerian hospitals.

Reacting to the situation, Kano state governor Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has assured that the state government is determined to ensure the effective management of reported Lassa Fever in the state.

“All in an effort to effectively address the situation we quickly, with all sense of reasoning and concern, reactivated State Isolation Centre at 'Yar Gaya and Rapid Response Team (RRT).

“State Emergency Preparedness and Response Committee become very regular and pre-positioning of drugs and other consumables becomes absolutely necessary,” he revealed.

Other measures according to him, are experts role in contact tracing of Lassa Fever. While daily coordination meeting at the State Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) is observed religiously without any recourse to lackadaisical attitude.

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“We will not relent in keeping our people informed and abreast on Lassa Fever through both media and other communication platforms,” he assured.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has also confirmed the outbreak of Lassa fever.

Addressing newsmen on Wednesday, January 22, the national president of the NMA, Francis Faduyile expressed shock over the incident.

“We have lost the best intensive care practitioner who died while trying to save the life of a patient. But, we have to accept the fact that it is the will of God.

“We commiserate with our members and people of Kano state,” Faduyile said

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States affected so far are Ebonyi, Edo, Ondo, Imo, Kano, Delta, Taraba, Plateau and Bauchi.

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Nigeria’s health system is very very bad - Kiki Omeili | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng

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