SAN FRANCISCO, December 23, (THEWILL) – The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Babtunde Ipaye, has revealed that the 396 people who had primary and secondary contacts with the late Assistant Chief Nursing Officer of Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, Abolanle Adesuyi, who died of Lassa fever last Sunday, have been traced and placed under surveillance.
The commissioner, speaking during the inauguration of Shoremekun Memorial Hospital at Ifo Local Government Area of the state on Friday, said this was done in case they would develop symptoms of the disease.
Ipaye however said so far, none of the contacts have shown abnormal temperature since their monitoring began adding that the medical officer attached to each of the contacts would continue to monitor them until the specified period, in line with the World Health Organisation standard was exceeded before they could be medically adjudged to be free of the disease.
While urging members of the public not to panic, Ipaye assured that government was on top of the situation but advised 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, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday, said Nigeria recorded the largest outbreaks of Lassa fever in its history between 2015 and 2016, with 273 reported cases resulting in 149 deaths.
This was disclosed by Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Chief Executive Officer of NCDC, in a statement in Lagos, revealing that the cases were reported from 23 states.
He said following this the Minister of Health inaugurated a Lassa Fever Eradication Committee, under the leadership of Prof. Oyewale Tomori, to look into the situation and proffer solutions to the NCDC towards preventing future outbreaks and reducing the deaths from the disease.
“The prepositioning of commodities has now ensured that all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria have a full complement of emergency materials,” he said.
“The materials comprising Personal Protection Equipment, Ribavirin, Disinfection sprayers, hand sanitizers, hypochlorite (bleach), case definition posters, hard copies of IDSR technical guidelines and safety boxes.
“Emergency Operations Centre has been setup and is now monitoring all contacts of the case, disinfecting contaminated areas and coordinating all response activities.
“This case highlights the risk Lassa fever still poses to the lives of Nigerians, particularly at this time of the year.
“Throughout the dry season, a new communication plan would address priority antecedents of Lassa Fever outbreak to ensure prevention is guaranteed.”
Story by Oputah David
