FG: Suspected cases of Lassa fever hits 95
The number of suspected cases of Lassa fever in the country has risen to 95, the Federal Government has said.
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said this at a press
briefing jointly organised with the Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja on Tuesday.
He also disclosed that the Federal Government planned to establish
an inter-ministerial committee as part of the long term measure to end
the menace of Lassa fever in the country.
The committee would be made up of the ministers in charge of
education, agriculture and natural resources, environment, information
and culture as well as health.
As of January 8, the number of suspected cases stood at 86 and the
number of laboratory confirmed cases stood at 22. While the number of
deaths stood at 40, the fatality rate stood at 46.5 per cent.
Adewole said, “As of today (Tuesday),
records from our surveillance show that the number of suspected cases
is 93, the number of laboratory confirmed cases is 25 and the number of
reported deaths is 41, with a case fatality of 44 per cent.
“We will like to state that given the high index of suspicion, the
increasing number of suspected cases may not be out of place, as health
practitioners are more likely to include Lassa fever as a differential
diagnosis in their health care facilities.
“However, the good news is that there have been no new confirmed
cases of death in the last 48 hours. This is reflection of our
coordinated response and advocacy to all states.”
The minister also disclosed that in the last 48 hours, the
government had raised a four-man committee headed by Prof. Michael
Asuzu, president of the Society of Public Health Practitioners of
Nigeria, to visit Niger, Kano and Bauchi, the three most affected
states.
The committee, he said, would embark on a fact-finding mission,
assess the current situation, document response experiences, identify
gaps and proffer recommendations on how to prevent future occurrences.
