The Ebonyi Government has said that the state has not recorded any case of Lassa fever contrary to reports that it has had five recent cases.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike, made the clarification in Abakaliki on Thursday.
He expressed sadness over such report and said that there had not been a single case of Lassa fever in the state since 2014.
The commissioner said that the only cases recorded in the state were in 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2014 and that some 10 deaths were recorded during the periods.
“And this involved health workers, doctors and consultants mostly,” he said.
Umezurike said what the state had witnessed in the recent outbreak were people who showed symptoms of the disease while all the samples taken to Lassa Fever Research and Control Centre, Irrua, Edo, tested negative.
”The cases can only be regarded as Lassa fever after laboratory test.
”On Dec. 26, 2015, a 29- year-old lady was suspected to have contracted the virus and was taken to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki for medical attention but she refused to be admitted and she died the following day,” he said.
He said that samples collected from the deceased were taken to Edo and the result of the test was still awaited.
Umezuruike added that on Jan.13, a 30-year-old-man, who showed symptoms of the disease, was taken to the hospital for treatment and he died on Jan. 17 but when tested the result was negative.
The commissioner said that government had scaled up surveillance on the virus and had instructed health workers to pick suspected cases for early detection and treatment. (NAN)
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