Lassa Fever Prevention

 With the recent outbreak of Lassa fever in the country, it is important for us to put in place preventive and control measures in our homes/offices most especially since reported cases have been confirmed in the region.

·         Avoid contact between rats and human beings;

·         Keep your house and Environment clean

·         Cover all foods and water properly.

·         Cook all foods thoroughly

·         Store foodstuffs in rodent proof containers

·         Block all rat hideouts

·         If you suspect that rat has eaten any food, discard it

·         Family members should always be careful to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while

·         Disposing of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households

·         Effective measures include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers.

The Minister of Health , Prof Isaac Adewole issued a statement on Wednesday, 6th January 2016 in Abuja in response to the outbreak of Lassa fever in the country in his statement he confirmed that the fever has spread into eight states namely :

Bauchi

Nasarawa

 Niger

Taraba

Kano

Rivers

 Edo and Oyo.

He added, “The total number of suspected cases so far reported is 76 with 35 deaths, and a Case Fatality Rate of 46 per cent. “Healthcare workers seeing a patient suspected to have Lassa Fever should immediately contact the epidemiologist in the State Ministry of Health or call the Federal Ministry of Health using the following numbers:

 08093810105

08163215251

08031571667

 08135050005.

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 6 to 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,   diarrhoea, cough, and   bleeding   from   mouth,   nose,   vagina   or gastro-intestinal tract, and low blood pressure.

The reservoir or host of the Lassa virus is the “multi-mammate rat” called Mastomys natalensis

The name of the rat that harbours the virus that causes lassa fever is called multimammate rat(because it has many nipples like all these local street dogs after delivery). While the botanical name is mastomys natalensis.

There is also an upsurge of the disease everywhere. So we should all practice hand washing hygiene. Also all apple lovers should wash them with salt and warm water before refrigerating them to eat.

Our wives should avoid testing of dry garri by chewing them for starch in the market. All garri soakers should let go for now.

The problem is that most of our garri sellers in the market buy their garri from bush markets. These garri are often fried half dry and are subsequently dried on polythene sheets on the tarred roads or compounds in the villages. These rat dive in at will, to feed their hungry bellies and in the process defecate and urinate on the garri, which dries  up with it. If used for Eba, the virus may die bcos of the hot water used. But if soaked, the virus is directly ushered in. Please no one should joke with this precaution, except you process your cassava yourself.

Even market sellers are not left out as they leave goods and grains half covered over the night.

Let’s