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.
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”.