Tony John, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Centre for Disease Control said it has  received four reported  cases of lassa fever in the State.

This was confirmed yesterday, by the acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health in the State, Dr. Chinwe Tonye-Atata.

She disclosed this  in Port Harcourt, while giving updates on the report,  stating   that  57 persons   had already  been placed under surveillance.

According to the Permanent Secretary, records had  shown that two out of the four cases reported were not lassa fever, while  results of the remaining two, are being awaited from the National Reference Laboratories for Virology.

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Speaking further,  Tonye-Atata said a Rivers indigene was diagnosed of lassa fever in Edo State recently, regretting that the victim died  on January 22, 2020, at a Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo.

She said, the State  was working with the hospital management, family and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to ensure public safety, especially for the  health workers and first responders, while 57 persons were under surveillance.

She stated: “In the last weeks, we received four reports of lassa fever. All  those cases have received adequate attention. They  have been investigated and two discarded. Other two cases are still being  suspected, unconfirmed and results are being collated.

“We are working assiduously to ensure public health safety in exposed clusters, especially among public health personnel and the first respondents, presently 57 persons have so far been placed under surveillance”.