Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti Holds Seminar on Lassa Fever Outbreak

Posted on: Wed 27-01-2016

A seminar on Lassa fever outbreak was organized by the management of the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti on Monday 18th January, 2016.

Declaring the seminar open, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital Dr. Lawrence Majekodunmi Ayodele stated that the virus has been in existence before now and admonished people not to panic but take adequate precautions in order to curb the spread of the disease.

The guest speaker, Dr K.A Durowade stated that there has been an outbreak of Lassa fever in the last six weeks and it has spread to about 25% of the states in the country. The states include: Bauchi, Kano, Niger, Nasarrawa, Taraba, Rivers, Plateau, Oyo, Edo, Lagos and Ekiti.

According to him, the primary host of Lassa fever is the multi-mammate mouse (Mastomy natalensis). Transmission can occur by contact with faeces or urine of the multi-mammate rat accessing grain stores in residences. It can also be contacted by handling and eating of infected bush rat, and through household items- beddings, utensils contaminated with rodent etc.

According to the speaker, Lassa fever can be prevented by the following ways:

Avoid contact with mastomys rodents especially in outbreak region.
Putting food away in rodent proof containers.
Keeping the home clean
Using rodents as delicacy should be discouraged
Rodents’ trap
Educating people in high risk areas about ways to decrease rodents’ population in their homes in his conclusion, he made some recommendations which include:
Need to scale up public awareness and enlightenment
Adequate provision of protective gadgets for health workers
Mere reference laboratories and treatment centres e.t.c.