Lassa fever hits Ogun kills nurse, man, two others infected

After a period of respite for the country, Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) has resurfaced in the Ogun State capital,  Abeokuta,  killing an assistant nurse, Mrs. Adesuyi Bolanle,  and a yet to be identified man.
It was reliably gathered that  two others, a doctor and a nurse are being attended to in the intensive care unit of Federal Medical Centre,  Idi-Aba,  Abeokuta, suspected to have on contracted the dreaded disease.
According to findings, the nurse and the young man were said to be workers at a morgue in Abeokuta.
When contacted, the State Ministry of Health confirmed the incident, saying, the infected victims would be transferred to one of the isolation centres in the state.
A source at the ministry who did not want his name in print said that the commissioner has confirmed the incident and has begun the process of transferring the victims to the state-owned isolation centre.
The state government had four months ago  declared  the state free of Lassa fever,  urging the people not to panic again.
The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, has said that all 20 Local Government Areas and the 37 Local Government Development Council Areas (LCDAs) in the state had been put on red alert.
He has however doused the tension of management and members of staff of the Federal Medical Center, Idi Aba in Abeokuta, particularly the nurses, saying the situation does not call for unnecessary panic, adding that Lassa Fever can only be transmitted by getting in contact with body fluid of infected persons, unlike that of Ebola which can be transmitted through air and some other means.
Ipaye said the state government has always been proactive on issues relating to public health, saying that the state has never recorded any case of Lassa Fever except for the two cases imported from Ebonyi and Kogi states who later died at Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) a few months ago.
He said the State Ministry in collaboration with FMC would quickly set up an isolation center at the premises to attend to emergencies, while urging the nurses to always attend to all patients in the most hygienically acceptable manner.
“We are going to immediately create an isolation center here at FMC to cater for unexpected cases and emergencies on public health issues like Lassa fever to include others communicable diseases and have set officers out to confirm the root of the cases,” he said
He said a continuous sensitisation is ongoing on the need for the public to keep maintaining high sense of medical and personal hygiene, get rid of rats in and around the house, ensure that all food stuff  are well covered at all times and constant hand washing.