Lassa fever has claimed the lives of four persons in Taraba, while a medical doctor is among those being treated for the virus in the State, the government said Tuesday.
Innocent Vakkai, the Commissioner for Health, told newsmen in Jalingo that out of suspected cases that turned out positive, four have died.
According to the commissioner, the state government had activated its surveillance system for more case detection and proper treatment.
He noted that efforts were ongoing to create awareness among residents of the state, and enlighten them about the symptoms of the disease.
Vakkai regretted that challenges such as late reporting of patients to hospitals and difficult terrains of the state were major obstacles to the management of the disease in Taraba.
He revealed that the Federal Ministry of Health had promised to provide testing machines, which would be distributed regionally, with Taraba as the test place for the North-East.
Vakkai said the state government may acquire its set of equipment to reduce waiting time between suspicion and confirmation.
Meanwhile, the Acting Head, Clinical Services of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Ahmed Jatau, has revealed that a medical doctor tested positive for Lassa fever.
He noted that the affected medical doctor, a house officer, was receiving treatment at Iruwa Secialist Hospital in Edo state.
“We sent 10 suspected cases for test and six tested positive and out of the six confirmed cases, four died before their results came in.
“Out of the remaining two, one has been discharged while the other, who is our own staff, has been transferred to Irrua Specialist Hospital for further treatment because we don’t have a dialysis unit here.
“The information from the specialist hospital is that he is doing well after the first dialysis session.
“We have also fumigated the house officers’ quarters against rodents,” he said.
