<em>by Emeka Nwankwo
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has warned that Lassa fever could kill 1,000 Nigerians and that the viral infection has spread to 17 states in the country, with Edo, Rivers, Nassarawa and Taraba states being hotspots of the virus.
This is in addition to Bauchi, Kano and Niger states, which have so far recorded the highest number of the viral infection.
Adewole, who stated this on Tuesday at an emergency National Council on Health (NCH) meeting with state commissioners of health and other stakeholders in Abuja, admonished all health officers in the country not to hide any information from political leaders as they ought to know the true nature of things.
The meeting had the objective of initiating discussions on the control, prevention and management of the Lassa fever outbreak and cases in Nigeria.
The minister further stated that the current outbreak was due to ignorance and that it is a national embarrassment. So far the Nigeria has recorded 212 cases of the viral infection in 64 local government areas in 17 states.
The minister stated that: “There is a high level of denial and a conspiracy of silence in some of our states. I think people take delight in saying we have no case and to me that is not the issue. In fact, if you are able to pick suspicious cases, to me that is the issue because that goes to tell us that the surveillance system is at work.”
“We also want to alert all health professionals in the country that they should report any case. I have described the outbreak as a national embarrassment. We can manage the embarrassment, but when we allowed another outbreak to occur in August last year, it became a national shame to all of us.”
“One of the things we will do to prevent us from dragging this nation into shame is to stamp out Lassa fever. Seventeen states have been affected across the country. It has affected 64 local governments across the country and we have been able to pick 212 suspected cases. It dates back to August last year, not just this year. It is better to over-count suspected cases than to under-count.”
“The real hotspots are Niger, Bauchi, Taraba, Kano, Edo, Nasarawa, Plateau and Rivers, but for us to be honest with ourselves, all states should consider themselves at risk and please adopt measures to contain, prevent and reassure the community that they are on top of the disease,” he added.
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