In the wake of novel COVID-19, Coronavirus pandemic across the globe, there is growing concern that the Lassa Fever epidemic is also fast killing in Nigeria, with no or little financial interventions from the public and private sectors.
Lassa fever is named after the Nigerian town where it was first identified in 1969. It is an acute viral disease of animal origins with early symptoms similar to malaria and COVID-19.
Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic illness caused by contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or feces.
The virus is carried in multimammate rats (the common soft-furred African rat whose female has a double row of breasts), which normally live in bushes and visit nearby homes for food which they contaminate.
Already, the “silent killer” (Lassa Fever) has in the last few days killed at least 19 persons in Bauchi State in a wave of resurgence.
Confirming the resurgence of the deadly disease, Deputy governor of the state, Baba Tela, said, “It is not as if we have gotten rid of Lassa fever completely in the state; No, we have not.
“And so far as of week 14 of our campaign, the total number of deaths to Lassa fever is 19, and we don’t have any new case so far.
“And we are following up contacts of about 48 persons and those 48 have been confirmed and are under medication, and they are recovering fast.”
Tela urged residents of the state to always report suspected cases of Lassa fever early to the state so that patients can be treated early and recover
Reports say that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lassa fever has killed at least 188 Nigerians this year.
Between January 1 and March 15, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control reported 161 deaths of Lassa fever patients, with 3,735 suspected cases and 906 confirmed cases, across twenty-seven of Nigeria’s thirty-six states.
For the same period in 2019, Lassa killed 114 with 1801 suspected cases and 455 confirmed cases across twenty-one states, but the 906 confirmed cases for 2020 is already greater than the 810 confirmed cases for all of 2019. 161 deaths of Lassa fever patients, with 3,735 suspected cases and 906 confirmed cases, across twenty-seven of Nigeria’s thirty-six states.
The WHO figures indicate that,’’ From 1 January through 9 February 2020, 472 laboratory-confirmed cases including 70 deaths (case fatality ratio= 14.8%) have been reported in 26 out of 36 Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory.
‘’Of the 472 confirmed cases, 75% have been reported from three states: Edo (167 cases), Ondo (156 cases) and Ebonyi (30 cases).
‘’The other states that have reported cases include: Taraba (25), Bauchi (14), Plateau (13), Kogi (13), Delta (12), Nasarawa (4), Kano (4), Rivers (4), Enugu (4), Borno (3), Kaduna (3), Katsina (3), Benue (2), Adamawa (2), Sokoto (2), Osun (2), Abia (2), Kebbi (2), Gombe (1), Oyo (1), Anambra (1), FCT (1), and Ogun (1).’’
Similarly, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also revealed that 985 people were receiving treatment at various centers for Lassa fever, saying 37 health workers have also been affected by the disease this year.
Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), also said that at least six doctors have lost their lives to Lassa fever this year alone. This excludes laboratory scientists and technicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health workers that have lost their lives to the disease.
Speaking on its resurgence, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, said Lassa fever is a very serious outbreak and that Nigeria is experiencing the world’s largest outbreak of the disease.
Sokomba told Daily Trust that available figures point to the fact that the fatality rate of 19. 5% of the disease is very high.
“It means that for every 100 people that come in contact with Lassa fever, 20 of them die,” he said.
According to him, Lassa fever is more deadly than COVID-19 considering that while the latter has so far killed only 11 people in Nigeria; the former has killed 188 people.
He said in spite of this, tackling Lassa fever has been abandoned, probably because of the status of people most affected by the disease as compared to those that come down with COVID-19 -19.
The NARD president said the government and all other stakeholders need to give attention to Lassa fever prevention and control.
“Lassa fever is a preventable disease, but we have stopped talking about the preventive measures since COVID-19 came up. The disease is highly infectious, it spreads and it kills. So it is high time attention is paid to it because it is killing Nigerians and every life matters.”
He was emphatic that while Lassa fever has been endemic in the country, it has witnessed annual outbreaks consistently in the last five years.
Also commenting, Dr. Olubusuyi Moses Adewumi, a specialist in Arenaviruses and virologist at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan in southwest Nigeria explained ‘’Arenaviruses, which include the Lassa virus, are disproportionately prone to genetic mutations and have a propensity for spread if not adequately controlled, says
Dr. Adewumi blames the rapid increase of the epidemic each year on the lack of an effective surveillance system in place to identify and monitor the circulation of a virus in the country via rodents and other animals. “In our environment, the vectors continue to have the opportunity to interact with the human population and consequently spread the virus unchecked,” he explains.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, apart from Nigeria, Lassa fever is endemic in parts of West Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, saying other neighboring countries were also at risk, as the animal vector for the disease is distributed throughout the region.
The Centre said an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 infections of Lassa fever occur annually, with approximately 5,000 deaths.
It said surveillance for Lassa fever is not standardized; therefore, the estimates were crude and not an actual representation of what is happening.
“For instance, in some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is known that 10-16 percent of people admitted to hospitals annually have Lassa fever, demonstrating the serious impact the disease has on the region,” it stated.
- Federal Government To Revive Adults, Almajiris Education - September 24, 2023
- Fraud : Pastor Deceived Me to Sell My Only House, Jilted Evangelist Tells Yola Court - February 5, 2021
- 2023 : Nigerians Will Vote Out APC – Gov Wike - February 4, 2021
