Lassa fever: WHO deploys Polio personnel to 18 States

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Nigeria has deployed Polio personnel to about 18 States of the Federation to rapidly assist in containing the outbreak of Lassa fever.

In a press release made available to the Daily Times, WHO Incident Manager for Lassa fever Management Team in Nigeria, Dr. Emmanuel Musa, stated that the strong presence of its personnel in the 18 States was a justified means of curtailing the outbreak.

“The polio teams on ground in the states were crucial for mounting the initial response to the Lassa fever outbreak and have continued to be WHO’s frontline technical support to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, States Ministry of Health and local government area teams” Musa stated.

He also said that huge investments by donors and partners have gone beyond polio eradication to saving lives and impacting positively on people’s health.

WHO and other partners are currently supporting the National transition plan development to ensure these investments are not wasted, but made available to support other National public health efforts and priorities.

It could be recalled that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, had revealed that over 72 people have died of Lassa Fever since January 1.

The centre’s situation report on the virus dated February 25 had reported over 1,081 suspected cases in 18 states.

The states are Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Imo, Plateau, Lagos, Taraba, Delta, Osun, Rivers, FCT, Gombe and Ekiti. Of the suspected cases, 317 are said to be confirmed, while 72 deaths were also confirmed, eight of which are probable.

Edo remains the worst, as 43 percent of all confirmed cases are from the state.

The WHO had described the outbreak as the worst outbreak of Lassa Fever in Nigeria. “Lassa fever has never reached this case count in Nigeria before,” said Wondimagegnehu Alemu, WHO representative to Nigeria.

“The ability to rapidly detect cases of infection in the community and refer them early for treatment improves patients’ chances of survival and is critical to this response.

“Given the large number of states affected, many people will seek treatment in health facilities that are not appropriately prepared to care for Lassa Fever patients and the risk of infection to healthcare workers is likely to increase.”

Three weeks ago, Isaac Adewole, Minister of Health, said the current outbreak of the disease had affected 15 states with 31 deaths recorded.