[Mhiz Rebecca]

A total of 396 people who may have had primary and secondary
contacts with victims of Lassa fever in Abeokuta, Ogun State have
been placed under surveillance by the state Ministry of Health.
The development came on a day the Nigerian Centre for Disease
Control (NCDC) announced that it had set up an Emergency
Operations Centre in Abeokuta, from where the Agency was now
monitoring all contacts of the chief nursing office who died from
Lassa fever at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC),Abeokuta.
But speaking during the inauguration of Shoremekun Memorial
Hospital (Blue Star) in Ifo Local Government Area of the state, the
state Commissioner for Health, Dr Babatunde Ipaye, said the affected
people had been traced and put under surveillance in case they
develop symptoms of the disease.
Two persons, including an Assistant Chief Nursing Officer at the
Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Mrs Abolanle
Adesuyi, and a mortuary attendant, Great Okusaga, had been killed
following the outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever.
The hospital’s management immediately shut down the Accident and
Emergency unit of the institution and fumigated the affected area to
prevent escalation of the dreaded disease.
According to the health commissioner, the primary contacts are
mainly members of the late victim’s family. Ipaye explained that the
secondary contacts are the victim’s co-workers in the hospital,
particularly those in her department.
He, however, noted that none of the contacts, so far, has shown
abnormal temperature since they began monitoring. He also said the
medical officers attached to each of the contacts would continue to
monitor until the specified period in line with the World Health
Organisation (WHO)’s destandard before they could be medically
adjudged to be free of the disease.
Ipaye said: “All the 396 contacts have not shown any abnormal
symptoms or signs of Lassa fever, their temperature is under control
and we have stationed our monitoring officer with each of the
contacts to continue monitoring throughout a specific period in line
with the World Health Organisation standard.”
The commissioner urged members of the public not to panic,
stressing that the state government was on top of the situation. He,
however, advised the people to cultivate high level of hygiene and
keep their food away from rats.
The commissioner called on members of the public to report any case
of malaria symptoms that may have exceeded three days to the
nearest General Hospital, the Ministry of Health, Oke-Mosan,
Abeokuta or call the following dedicated lines: 09099140121 and
09099140122.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the NCDC yesterday, stated that the
NCDC had swung into action, disinfecting contaminated areas and
coordinating all response activities with regard to the latest death
occasioned by Lassa fever which is also known as Lassa
haemorrhargic fever.
The NCDC disclosed that Lassa fever has so far killed 149 Nigerians.
“Between 2015 and 2016, Nigeria recorded one of the largest
outbreaks of Lassa fever in its history- reporting 273 cases.
Of these, 165 cases and 89 deaths have been confirmed through
laboratory testing. The cases were reported from 23 states in
Nigeria.” It would be recalled that the NCDC on December 20
confirmed a case of Lassa fever in a healthcare worker who had died
at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta. The female nurse died before
the laboratory result revealed she was positive for Lassa.
The NCDC consequently dispatched a team of epidemiologists, to
support Ogun State to respond to the outbreak. The NCDC added:
“The core of this strategy is to prevent another large Lassa fever
outbreak and ensure that all the states in Nigeria are able to respond
to any case.”