By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
Kogi state government says eight local government areas of its 21 councils have recorded 41 cases of lassa fever, out of which seven persons have died.
The Permanent Secretary,Ministry of Health,Mr Alonge Daniel who disclosed this in a statement he made available to newsmen on Thursday in Lokoja added that the deaths occurred between the first week of January 2022 to date.
He gave the affected local government areas: Idah, Ibaji, Lokoja, Ajaokuta, Ofu, Okehi, Kabba and Adavi had reported at least, one confirmed case during this period.
Daniel further stated that the Health had responded appropriately and timely to the epidemic to avert the the spread of the disease.
“The State Ministry of Health has carried out community sensitization activities in local fovernment areas affected by the outbreak.
“This is to enable them adopt healthy lifestyle, by keeping their environment clean, maintain high standard of personal hygiene and prevent rats from having access to their foodstuff, both at home and in market places.
“The health workers in our primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions have been adequately sensitized to have high index of suspicion for early diagnosis and “treatment.
” Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers from the State Ministries of Health and Local Government are following up the situation for early case
detection and timely reporting
“The State Ministry of Health is also supporting confirmed Lassa fever patients with funds to aid their treatment at Iruah . The efforts of the State Government is yielding positive result as the outbreak is going down, based on our data”.
He added that there were two active cases in stable condition receiving treatment at Iruah Specialist Teaching Hospital Edo State, while 32 cases had been treated and discharged.
He appealed to the citizens to avoid acts that could favour further spread of the disease, streaming that, the government will continue to do everything possible to
curb the outbreak and prevent further spread.
In similar vein, the Chairman of Ibaji Local Government Area, Mr William Iko’ojo, has appealed to the federal and state governments for urgent intervention over lassa fever outbreak in the area.
Iko’ojo, made the appeal in an interview with the Newsmen in Onyedega, headquarters of Ibaji Local Government Area, Kogi disclosed that the disease had killed over 20 people, adding that the area was overwhelmed by the outbreak of the disease.
The casulIties,he added were mostly herdsmen living in hamlets within the area, adding that three persons weree on admission at Iruah Specialist Teaching Hospital, Idumabo Irrua, Edo, where the disease was officially confirmed to be Lassa Fever.
“The unfortunate thing is that when the disease broke out, the villagers were ignorant of the cause and death of their loved ones, and were thronging around each other to help,” he said.
The chairman expressed concern that the disease had spread so fast and killed many of the villagers in some of the communities.
“Another challenge we have now is that our only Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) is without facilities and a doctor that could help us in controlling the outbreak.
“Of course, the Iruah Specialist Teaching Hospital, Idumabo Irrua, Edo, is the closest hospital that handles lassa fever disease,” he lamented.
The LG boss said he had reported the outbreak to the state government, which promised to send some medical personnel and facilities to help arrest the spread of the disease.
