Benue govt also said that 46 people, including health workers, have been affected by the disease across the state
By Kehinde Okeowo
Benue State government has said there is active surveillance going on in some communities, especially those hosting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) after Lassa fever outbreak claimed the lives of nine individuals in the past two months.
This was revealed to journalists on Thursday by the state epidemiologist, Dr. Sam Ngishe, who noted that some of the deceased were residing in IDP camps.
He said: “From our report so far, the IDP camp has a high population of rats. So, if the rats transmitting are within the IDP camps, it means that we need to work hard so we don’t have an outbreak that will be difficult to control.”
Ngishe, however, added that 46 people, including health workers, have been affected by the disease across the state.
The epidemiologist went on to say four cases were identified among displaced persons at the Ortese IDP camp in the Guma Local Government Area, and that the disease had spread to seven of the 23 local government areas of the state, including Obi, Okpokwu, Gwer West, Makurdi, Guma, Gwer East, and Ukum.
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The infectious disease expert further stated that the Benue State government implemented safe burial protocols for the deceased to address possible outbreak and that it is intensifying efforts to reduce the fatality rate, which was currently above the national average of 10 percent.
“Nine deaths in confirmed cases and they have been buried in accordance with safe burial protocols across the various areas of the state where they hail from.” he added.
Ngishe highlighted the importance of enhanced surveillance, risk communication, and community engagement to mitigate the spread of the disease.
“There is active surveillance going on in the community (housing Ortese IDP camp) as you know that the IDP camp is a cluster setting with very poor infection control in terms of poor sanitation, crowded environment and they have issues of malnutrition,” he further said.