Mr Salisu Mu’azu, an acting permanent Secretary in Jigawa state Ministry of Health has confirmed this morning to Premium Times that another medical Doctor has been confirmed to have contracted Lassa fever in Jahun Local Government of the state. The Victim identified as, Anthony Etim, a staff of the Medicins Sans Frontieres also referred to as ‘Doctors without Borders’ has now being isolated in one of the treatment unit centre in Jahun Local Government of Jigawa state.
Following an encounter with a suspected victim at one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri, Borno state, shortly, Mr Etim went down with the symptom.
This is coming in less than a week when two medical doctors, a male and a female doctor including a pregnant mother were wiped by the dreaded disease in Kano municipal, Kano state..
Mr Mu’azu disclosed about eleven persons in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of the state were being closely monitored after they were established to have made contact with the victims, another medical doctor now quarantined in Kano over the Lassa fever.
The Permanent Secretary revealed the state government is taking a precautionary measure to arrest the situation, saying part of the effort was a radio jingle staged to make people aware of the sickness and its danger.
Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. The disease is endemic in Nigeria and cases are recorded all year round.
The natural carrier of the virus was identified to be a multi-mammate rat, but the disease is also communicable, i.e from human to human transmission.
Lassa fever is largely transmitted through contact with items or surfaces contaminated with urine, faeces, saliva or blood of infected rats.
A medical doctor, Habib Mansur, said one way of preventing Lassa fever is by promoting good community hygiene to discourage rodents from entering homes.
He said other effective prevention methods include storing grains and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home and maintaining clean households. (PremiumTimes)
