Lassa Fever Spreads To Abuja , As Patient Dies At National Hospital

The Federal Governmrnt has announced the outbreak of
Lasser fever in the Kubwa area of the Federal Capital
Territory, with the death of the patient at the National
Hospital Abuja.
The latest death from Lassa fever brings the total
number of deaths to 43 in the country from 10 states.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has visited
National Hospital where he called on health workers at
all levels “to be more vigilant and look out for patients
with symptoms of Lassa fever.”
A statement on Wednesday night by the Director of
Press and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of
Health, Mrs. Boade Akinola, said Adewole directed that
“all primary and secondary contacts of the victim
should be tracked.
These include the staff of the private hospital in Kubwa
where the deceased was first managed for one week,
until he became unconscious, before referral to the
National Hospital.
He also advised that family members should report at
the nearest hospital if anyone has fever for more than
two days
The Minister, however called on the residents of Abuja
not to panic but to “maintain high level vigilance and
present themselves for test if they feel unhealthy or they
feel symptoms of Lassa fever”, which includes high
fever, stooling, tiredness and vomiting adding that self-
medication should be avoided at this period.
The Medical Director of the National Hospital, Dr. Jafaru
Momoh, who briefed the Minister during his visit, said
that the patient was brought in unconscious from a
private hospital in Kubwa where he was admitted for
eight days.
The newly married 33- year-old lived in Jos, but came to
see a family member in Kubwa because of his illness.
Lassa fever is an acute febrile illness, with bleeding and
death in severe cases, caused by the Lassa fever virus
with an incubation period of six-21 days.
About 80 per cent of human infections are
asymptomatic. The remaining cases have severe multi-
system disease, where the virus affects several organs
in the body, such as the liver, spleen and kidneys.
The onset of the disease is usually gradual, starting with
fever, general weakness, and malaise followed by
headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, cough, and bleeding from mouth,
nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract, and low blood
pressure.
The reservoir or host of the Lassa virus is the
“multimammate rat” called Mastomys natalensis which
has many breasts and lives in the bush and peri-
residential areas.
The Federal had earmarked the sum of N140m as funds
to tackle the outbreak of Lasser fever in the country.



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