4 die of Lassa fever in Nasarawa

Four people, including two pregnant women, have died from suspected Lassa fever in Awe LGA of Nasarawa State.

The general hospital in Awe has been shut down, and health workers, including the medical superintendent, have been isolated as a precautionary measure.

The outbreak was said to have started when a woman was brought to a health facility with symptoms suspected to be Lassa fever and died before receiving treatment, and her husband later died with similar symptoms.

A Disease Surveillance Officer, Mallam Ahmad Yahuza Abdullahi, cited poor handling of suspected cases and lack of motorcycles for surveillance officers as major challenges.

He said, “None of the Disease Surveillance Officers across the 13 LGAs of Nasarawa State has been provided with motorcycles by the government, which is affecting prompt response to remote areas.

“The state government sent an ambulance to Awe to convey six suspected cases for isolation in Lafia, but they were allowed to escape even before the laboratory test results were released.”

With the development, health workers called for protective equipment to manage the outbreak. A nurse at the Awe General Hospital, Ovey Polycarp, said, “The two women were brought to the hospital almost at the same time with symptoms resembling malaria, but their conditions deteriorated to bleeding and haemorrhage, which led to their deaths.

“We are living in fear because we do not have protective equipment to manage the outbreak.” The Director of Public Health at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Dr Peter Attah, however, said only one case of Lassa fever was recorded in Awe, saying the patient died before the laboratory results were released.

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