It was revealed on Tuesday, by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, that a Lassa fever patient successfully escaped from an hospital in Ebonyi State.
The unnamed patient was said to have sneaked out of the health facility, where he was receiving treatment.
Professor Adewole revealed this during a meeting of the National Council on Health in Abuja, where he inaugurated a 15-member Lassa fever eradication committee to address the outbreak of the disease and other communicable disease in the country.
The minister said he received a text message notifying him that a Lassa fever patient escaped from a health facility in Ebonyi while undergoing treatment.
He called on the relevant agency as well as the state government to trace the patient and those who might have had contact with him after he left the hospital.
During the course of the meeting, it was approved that a high index of suspicion should be maintained and the surveillance systems should be robust enough to detect further infections.
The inauguration of the Multi-Sectoral Lassa Fever Eradication Committee and implementation of the Multi-Sectoral Response Strategy against the outbreak was also approved.
The Lassa fever has claimed about 46 lives since its outbreak in August 2015, in Niger state.
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