The Federal Government has put the number of reported cases of Lassa Fever outbreak in eight states at 76 with 35 deaths already recorded and 14 cases confirmed by laboratories.
Nigeria has been experiencing Lassa fever outbreak in the past six weeks in Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo and Oyo states.
The government, which said measures had been put in place to curtail further spread and reduce mortality among those affected, however, ruled out placing travel restrictions from and to areas currently affected.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who stated this in a statement he issued on Wednesday in Abuja, in response to the outbreak of Lassa Fever in the country, added that “the World Health Organisation is being notified of the cases confirmed, and they are also working assiduously to curb the spread.”
Adewole added that in response to the reported outbreak, the Federal Government had taken some drastic measures to curtail further spread and reduce mortality.
The measures, he said, included immediate release of adequate quantities of ribavirin, the specific antiviral drug for Lassa Fever to all the affected states for prompt and adequate treatment of cases; and deployment of rapid response teams from the Federal Health Ministry to all the affected states to assist in investigating and verifying the cases and tracing of contacts.
