Delta State government has set up Emergency Operation Centers across the state to monitor cases of Lassa fever and ensure that residents are aware of its existence after four cases of the disease were confirmed in the state.
The state commissioner for health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme who disclosed in Asaba advised residents to keep their environment clean always and ensure that rats do not breed in or around homes.
He listed the affected local government areas as Okpe, Oshimili North, Oshimili South and Ndokwa East.
“In week 12, we have four confirmed cases so far recorded with a fatality rate of 50 per cent though the general fatality rate for Lassa fever is 1 – 15 per cent. So we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that we curtail the transmission from patient to health workers and from patients to relatives,” the commissioner said.
Explaining measures and efforts put in place so far, the commissioner said the government was doing a lot of advocacy, especially to health workers and sensitization of residents to have a high index of suspicion when they see those cases.
He said the state government was working closely with the Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State and had been able to achieve less than 24 hours of getting test results on Lassa fever as against what was commonly obtainable which was within the range of 72 hours.
The state epidemiologist, Dr. Mildred Igumbor, said by definition one case of Lassa fever is an outbreak hence all hands should be on deck to ensure the elimination of the disease.
Igumbor said the isolation center in Federal Medical Center Asaba built by the state government has the capacity for isolation and management of confirmed cases and if need be for referrals they would be transferred to Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo State.
She said the state government had set up a multi-sectorial EOC comprising officials of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture and Natural Resources among others where several partners and several subject matter experts sit and deliberate on how to tackle the disease and its spread.
