Lagos places 63 under surveillance over Lassa fever

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said the state has placed 63 persons under surveillance following the confirmation of an index case being isolated at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.

Abayomi made this disclosure at a press briefing on Wednesday, calling on the public not to panic.

Meanwhile, the National Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday confirmed that 103 people had been killed by Lassa fever in the country since the beginning of this year.

Abayomi said, “We have identified 63 of the persons he (Lassa fever patient) may have been in contact with him since he arrived in Lagos from Ebonyi State.

“His destination was the Lagos Law School where he was quickly attended to at the clinic but was not getting well after being treated for malaria.

“He was then referred to the Nigeria Air Force clinic, Onikan, where he was managed further and was referred to LUTH when there was no improvement.”

“The test was confirmed as positive on February 17 and was immediately transferred to the isolation containment facility in LUTH.”

The commissioner added, “They (63 people) are been monitored; If they develop any symptoms of Lassa fever, we will pick them up early and isolate them so that we can break the circle of transmission.”

The NCDC said Lassa fever had spread to 26 states.

The centre said the number of new confirmed cases increased from 109 cases last week to 115 this week in Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi, Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Taraba, Plateau, Bauchi, Enugu, Abia, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Sokoto and Katsina states.

It added that the number of deaths this year represented 17.6 per cent case fatality rate lower than the one recorded for the same period in 2019.

The NCDC said, “In total for 2020, 26 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 local government areas. Out of the 73 per cent of all confirmed, Edo State has 35 per cent, Ondo State, 32 per cent and Ebonyi State has six per cent of the cases.

“The number of suspected cases has significantly increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2019. Two new health care workers were affected in Bauchi and Katsina states in week 07.”