Lassa fever hits Akwa Ibom, claims 53 year-old woman; one victim quarantined as another absconds

DENNIS UDOMA, Uyo

Lassa fever epidemic has hit Akwa Ibom with three cases so far recorded over the weekend. Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong disclosed this on Monday at a meeting with stakeholders in Uyo, the state’s capital.

This is coming few days after the State’s Epidemiologist, Dr. Aniekeme Uwah, told Global Patriot Newspapers that, though there was no incident of Lassa fever in the state, government was leaving no stone unturned to prevent the scourge.

Ukpong, while inaugurating a taskforce on the eradication of Lassa fever in the state said, a 53-year-old woman, a trader who was diagnosed of Lassa fever few days ago has died.

He said, out of the remaining two patients suspected to have contacted the disease, one has absconded, while another who had been undergoing treatment for HIV/AIDS for sometime now was also discovered to have contracted Lassa.

Ukpong urged that, following the prevailing circumstance, all hands must be on deck to kick out the epidemic from the state since Akwa Ibom has been identified among the 20 states where the disease has been found to be endemic.

“As I am talking to you, Akwa Ibom state has recorded three suspected cases including one confirmed case.
Unfortunately the confirmed case, a 53 year-old woman who sells crayfish has died. Her test result came out after she had died. And one of the patients has absconded. The third case is someone, that has been under treatment for HIV/AIDS. This shows how serious this problem has become in the state.

“We are worried because of the fact that, during the Christmas period the 53 year old woman got in contact with
some of her family members and, some of them have already traveled back to other states before she took ill on the 5th of January and then went to a private hospital where she was being treated. The doctors suspected, at the private clinic, that it was a bigger health issue and referred her to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, where she was isolated before she eventually died. Her test result which showed that she had Lassa fever only came out after she died.

“So we have a situation here that should concern all of us. And we are also going to trace those that she had
contact with in the hospitals and the mortuary workers. It is a big problem we are going to solve. And I want to
appeal to health workers that, we must get every detail on every patient. It is also a warning notice to all health
workers that you must always protect yourself against infectious diseases”, Dr. Ukpong stated.

The Commissioner also warned the people of the state against eating rat meat irrespective of the type and, to also ensure proper storage of food items in containers as well as dispose garbage far from their houses in order not to attract rats into their houses.

The situation, he maintained, is that “Akwa Ibom is no longer free, and since rat meat is not so much a delicacy in the state I appeal to the people in some of the areas that eat rats to stop eating rat meat. It does not matter the type of rat, and I would advise that you keep cats if you can because cats drive away rats.”