No fewer than 15 persons have reportedly died after contracting Lassa Fever in Ondo State.
WuzupNigeria gathered that 28 others are on danger list in the southwestern state.
It was further gathered that a majority of the victims were from Oka Akoko, Owo and Ose.
“Over 100 people affected have been receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, while 15 have died and 28 are on the danger list,” The Punch Newspapers reported quoting an unnamed source.
The newspaper further said that a ward in the hospital reserved for Lassa fever patients is overcrowded, forcing the doctors to refer some patients to the Virology Centre in Akure.
It was also gathered that at the FMC claimed one of the health workers in the hospital lost his wife to the disease a few days ago.
He also confirmed that the number of Lassa fever patients in the hospital was increasing on a daily basis.
A member of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that a sensitisation programme was needed to stop the disease in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro, said the issue was already being addressed by the state government.
He said,
“I am at the Governor’s Office (on Monday evening) and we are having a meeting on the matter.
“That is (Lassa fever issue) is what we are trying to address now. We are working on the report available and the next line of action. That is why I’m here.”
Meanwhile, a corps member serving in Asaba, in the Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State, has been diagnosed with the Lassa fever.
The corps member simply identified as Yinka was said to have been taken to the Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo State on Monday after the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba confirmed the development.
A source told one of our correspondents that Yinka suddenly fell ill on Wednesday and was admitted to the FMC on Friday.
The source said,
“We were buying drugs thinking it was just malaria and that he would be okay.
“After a series of tests (at the FMC), he was diagnosed with Lassa fever and was taken to Edo State today (Monday).”
The Coordinator, National Youth Service Corps, Delta State, Mrs Olutayo Samuel, confirmed the development.
“The corps member has been stabilised and transferred to a specialist hospital,” Samuel said.
All efforts made to reach the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Ononye Mordi, and the Chief Medical Director, FMC, Asaba, Dr Victor Osiatume, were unsuccessful.
