The State Commandant of Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps, Dr Elijah Etim Willie has called on Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, to get Ebonyi State government’s backing to undertake a statewide advocacy campaign on the scourge of Lassa Fever endemics in the state.
Commandant Willie made this remark when he received in audience a team of medical experts in his office last Thursday, February 22, 2024 in his office.
He noted that the recent outbreak of the disease in the state was a major cause for concern; adding that a lot of people might yet be ignorant of measures to avoid contracting the deadly viral disease.
While commending the NCDC for it’s proactive measure that curtailed the impact of COVID-19 pandemics in Nigeria, he urged them to do the same on the Lassa fever scourge in the state.
Ebonyi State which was classified among the five high burden States on Lassa fever endemics is presently grappling with the recent outbreak of the disease which has so far claimed 10 lives while another 10 of the patients are receiving medical attention at the National Virology Center at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki.
A public health expert in the institute, Dr Nneka Igwenyi had unveiled to the state Commandant the devastating impact of the endemics in the state over a long time which concomitantly claimed lives of many medical practitioners while attending to suspected patients created panic among the care givers who became wary in dealing with patients with symptoms suggestive of Lassa fever.
The state government, she said, rose to the occasion by creating a trial sick bay where such suspicious cases are expertly dealt with by well trained care-givers; free of charge!
Accordingly to the team,Such patients stay isolated until their testes results are confirmed or disproved of the infection.
Those confirmed are moved into isolation wards at the virology center while those negative are moved into the hospital open wards.
According to Dr Igwenyi, Lassa fever could be contracted even without any physical contact with rats. She cited contaminated food item, and the case of any communal care-giving to a sick neighbor or relation and poor storage of food facilities as major driver’s of the Disease.
She therefore aver that the major remedy lies in early presentation of the case to physician when its severity is still controllable.
People die because they try to manage it locally until it’s severity set in; there is no curative drugs for Lassa fever presently and the only remedy is to present case at hospital within six days of infection when it can still be managed. She lamented that some of the victims died at the point of entry to hospital, some at diarises table.
The group had under the aegis of NCDC come to seek collaboration with the state Command for a three year implementation research taged Community-Based One Health participatory and Empowerment (COPE) Strategy for One-Health Interventions in Ebonyi State.