The Lagos state government has placed 63 persons on the watch list following the confirmation of a case of Lassa Fever in the state.
This is in line with the international standard of practice for surveillance of infectious diseases. The 63 persons are those who had contacts with the confirmed case of Lassa Fever in Lagos.
This information was confirmed in Lagos on Wednesday at a press briefing by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi.
While explaining further on the case, the Commissioner said that the patient was a male student from Ebonyi State who came to the Nigeria Law School, Lagos and first showed up at the school clinic on taking ill.
Abayomi said that thereafter, the student was referred to the Air Force Clinic in Onikan and thence transferred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) when he did not respond to the standard treatment for malaria and typhoid fever.
Prof. Akin Abayomi said:
“In our interrogation, there was no obvious contact with anybody prior to his arrival in Lagos but the test was confirmed as positive on the 17th of this month and he was then immediately transferred to the isolation containment facility within LUTH where he remains today.”
“He is on active treatment there and from the preliminary information available to us, the treatment is on-going satisfactorily.”
“I would like to reassure Lagosians that our vigilance levels are very high and we are putting more measures in place to safe guard the State.”
The Commissioner noted that the fight against Lassa Fever in the state was a collective responsibility through a high level of commitment to personal and community hygiene and environmental sanitation.
The Commissioner further encouraged health workers and citizens of the state to report suspected cases of Lassa Fever to the nearest public health facility, the Ministry of Health or call the emergency operation centre lines – 08023169485, 08033565529 and 08052817243.
