Lassa Fever Back In Plateau, 7 New Cases Recorded

Dr Kamshak Kuden, Plateau state Commissioner for Health, confirmed new cases of the deadly disease while addressing newsmen after the state’s Executive Council meeting in Jos, the state capital, on Monday.

“What we want to tell people of the state is that Lassa fever is back and the mode of transmission is through particular specie of rat,” Kuden said.

“Last year, between November and December, we battled with this viral haemorhagic fever, we had some casualties but we were able to contain it.

“However, we have recently recorded seven cases of Lassa fever; we took their blood samples to Irruwa Lassa Fever Laboratory, Edo, two of them are confirmed to have the disease, two were negative and we are yet to get the results of the other three.

“The confirmed cases include a Fulani lady from Riyom Local Government Area and a student of University of Jos.

“Both of them were admitted at Jos University Teaching Hospital,“ he said.

Recall that fresh cases of the Lassa fever disease were recorded in Rivers, Bauchi and Gombe states in August this year.

In 2015, the Nigeria Centre for Disease (NCDC) confirmed 12 deaths out of 375 infected people in Nigeria, while 112 deaths out of 1,723 cases were recorded in 2012.