Fresh cases of Lassa fever leaves four dead in Nigeria

Three people died from an outbreak of the Lassa fever in Kaduna State, Northwest of Nigeria.

A pregnant woman and the medical doctor and nurse who attended to her succumbed to the fever.

According to local press, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Professor Jonathan Nok who confirmed the information, said the three died at a hospital in Zonkwa, Zango-Kataf Local Government Area of the state.

In Abakaliki, one person was confirmed dead from the virus by the Ebonyi State Government on Monday.

The Kaduna State health commissioner said the deceased doctor and nurse showed signs of Lassa fever shortly after performing a caesarean section on the pregnant woman who was referred from another hospital.

“The affected hospitals have been put under isolation with the aim of tracing the primary and secondary contacts to the deceased,” he said.

It is barely three weeks after the state recorded its first Lassa fever case.

Between August 2015 and January, 23, 2016, 159 suspected cases of Lassa fever, including 82 deaths, were reported across 19 states.

A 10-year-old primary school pupil who was discharged last weekend from Federal Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki died a day later.

The Health ministry have since started surveillance and contact tracing of close associates of the deceased to enable them curtail the spread of the disease.