Lassa fever killED 26 in Benue in 2024 – Report

Benue State Government has said it recorded 26 death from Lassa fever and some other cases of the viral disease were also documented in 2024.

 

This was disclosed on Monday by the Benue State Epidemiologist, Dr Msuega Asema.

 

He stated that three members of the same family died of suspected case of Lassa fever in the state.

 

Dr Asema said the incident was recorded in the Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state about two weeks ago.

 

He said the Ministry of Health and Human Services had alerted all its emergency response structures to be on the lookout for any potential infectious diseases that could undermine public health and safety.

 

He called on people in the state to always ensure their environment is clean and healthy.

 

Asema, who doubles as the Manager of the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre said both Lassa fever and Ebola virus are zoonotic acute viral diseases which have the same symptoms and are transmittable by animals to humans.

 

He said, “Probable death is when someone dies and samples are not collected before death; a test is not done on the patient, but when relatives come down later with such symptoms, we say it is Lassa.

 

“So a total of 26 deaths were recorded in 2024, 11 confirmed while others are probable deaths.

 

“Currently we are still grappling with the outbreak, although it has not been declared officially by the Ministry of Health and Human Services, but we have pockets of suspected cases here and there.

 

“Two weeks ago, we lost three members from one family in Okpokwu who died of symptoms of Lassa fever; unfortunately, samples were not collected before their death.”

 

Dr Asema said that the state is fully prepared in case there is an outbreak of viral disease, on account of its personnel, capacity and technical knowledge in terms of the response restructuring that the state has, like the public health emergency operation centres.

 

He observed that the state had in the past three years recorded Lassa fever cases, advised the public to keep good hygiene and warned against close contact with people suspected of having extreme fever despite taking all medications and not responding to treatment.

 

Such cases, he said, often present Lassa fever characteristics.

 

 

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