1st March, 2017
The Borno Government on Wednesday said it had recorded a new case of Lassa Fever after a 32-year-old woman tested positive to the disease.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mishelia, made the disclosure at a news conference in Maiduguri.
Mishelia explained that the woman, from Zabarmari in Jere Local Government Area of the state, developed some symptoms of the disease after taking ill.
He said the state’s Ministry of Health had taken precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
He explained that “Lassa Fever was first discovered in Borno in 1969 in Lassa village in Askira Uba Local Government Area.
“But since then, no single case was reported until now.”
Mishelia said the ministry had quarantined all the people who had contact with the woman.
“We are embarking on mass fumigation in the entire area to kill rats that might carry the disease.
“We are also placing all those who came into contact with the woman lately on surveillance.”
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness of between two and 21 days transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces.
Lassa Fever has killed more than 150 people in West Africa, most of them in Nigeria since November 2015, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).
The signs and symptoms of Lassa fever typically occur after the patient came into contact with the virus.
Majority of Lassa fever virus infections (approximately 80 per cent), symptoms are mild and are undiagnosed.
The mild symptoms include slight fever, general malaise and weakness and headache.
In 20 per cent of infected individuals, however, the disease may progress to more serious symptoms, including hemorrhaging in gums, eyes or nose, respiratory distress, repeated vomiting, facial swelling, pain in the chest, back, and abdomen, and shock.
Neurological problems have also been described, including hearing loss, tremors, and encephalitis.
Death may occur within two weeks after symptom onset due to multi-organ failure and
the most common complication of Lassa fever is deafness.