Monday, 4 January 2016

Lassa fever in Taraba, 1 dead





Taraba state government has confirmed that there has been an outbreak of Lassa fever in the state which has left one person dead and two others being place in quarantine.

The Commissioner of Health, Innocent Vakkai, who confirmed the outbreak said, “One person died and two others quarantined and their blood samples have already been taken to Irrua Specialists’ Hospital in Edo State for further confirmation.”

He added that the government had reacted swiftly to contain the disease and there was therefore no need to panic. He went further to educate the people on the mode of spread of the disease as well as some of the symptoms.

“People usually get infected with the Lassa Virus after exposure to infected rodents, while person to person transmission occurs through direct contact with the sick person.”

“Other precautionary measures include putting food in rodent proof containers and wearing protections such as masks, gloves, gowns among others,” he added.
The commissioner advised that anyone who had symptoms of nasal bleeding as well as bleeding through the anus and mouth to the nearest hospital as they were also symptoms of the fever.

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