Nine dead as Lassa Fever hits Benue

Benue State is grappling with a severe outbreak of Lassa fever, with nine individuals succumbing to the disease in the past two months. The state epidemiologist, Dr. Sam Ngishe, disclosed this alarming development to reporters on Thursday, highlighting that some of the deceased were residents of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

“From our report so far, the IDP camp has a high population of rats. So, if the rats transmitting are within the IDP camps, it means that we need to work hard so we don’t have an outbreak that will be difficult to control,” remarked Ngishe.

He revealed that a total of 46 people, including health workers and IDPs, have been affected by the disease across various regions of the state. Among these cases, four were identified at the Ortese IDP camp in the Guma Local Government Area. The outbreak has now spread to seven out of the 23 local government areas of Benue State, including Obi, Okpokwu, Gwer West, Makurdi, Guma, Gwer East, and Ukum.

Ngishe solemnly stated, “Nine deaths in confirmed cases and they have been buried in accordance with safe burial protocols across the various areas of the state where they hail from.”

To combat this escalating crisis, the state government has initiated stringent measures such as safe burial protocols for the deceased. Additionally, efforts are underway to curb the high fatality rate, which currently surpasses the national average of 10 percent.

The epidemiologist emphasized the critical need for enhanced surveillance, risk communication, and community engagement to stem the spread of the disease. He underscored the challenges posed by the IDP camp environment, citing poor sanitation, overcrowding, and malnutrition as factors exacerbating the transmission of infectious diseases.

“There is active surveillance going on in the community (housing Ortese IDP camp) as you know that the IDP camp is a cluster setting with very poor infection control in terms of poor sanitation, crowded environment and they have issues of malnutrition,” Ngishe pointed out, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive intervention measures to address these pressing health concerns.