Disease spreads to Delta, Ekiti states

The Lassa feveroutbreak in Nigeria has now spread to Delta and Ekiti states, reports say.

The case in Ekiti was confirmed in Ido Ekiti in the Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state, according to The Nation.

PM News also reports that the Delta State case is an elderly woman who was first admitted at St. Joseph’s Hospital and then referred to the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba.

The Ekiti patient, a nursing student, is said to currently be on admission at the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido Ekiti (FETHI).

The development was confirmed by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Olurotimi Ojo on Monday, January 18, 2016.

“Over the weekend, the state had confirmed a case of Lassa fever that is being managed at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti. The patient is stable and had commenced treatment,” Ojo said.

“Immediately the patient was diagnosed and confirmed, the management began the process of contact tracing. Once you have an index case, there is tendency of having a primary case and possible spread and this could be dangerous.

“Though, the doctors are handling the situation and monitoring the situation very closely. So, nobody has been quarantined after the contact tracing,” he added.

Meanwhile in Delta, the State Rapid Response Team on Lassa fever has placed 22 persons who had contact with the confirmed case on surveillance while five samples have been sent for laboratory investigation.

About 40 people have so far been confirmed dead from Lassa fever in 10 states around Nigeria.