(task) Nigeria: Fear of Fresh Ebola Epidemic As Lassa Fever Death Toll Rises - allAfrica.com

Nigeria RS

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hemorrhagic fever, Lassa Fever

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> Nigeria: Fear of Fresh Ebola Epidemic As Lassa Fever Death Toll Rises
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> By Chukwuma Muanya and Ann Godwin
> There is fear that the fresh outbreak of another haemorrhagic fever (Lassa fever) in some parts of the country, including Taraba, Nassarawa and Rivers states, may lead to another Ebola epidemic in Nigeria.
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> Some people have been confirmed killed by the disease in Taraba and Nassarawa states. Two persons were yesterday confirmed killed by Lassa fever in Rivers State.
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> The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Theophilus Odagme, who disclosed this to newsmen, said the deaths occurred in the last one week.
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> He explained that the first fatality was between December 30, 2015 and January 1 , 2016 to a mother, and later her two-week old child.
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> "I received a call that a mother and child had died in a hospital following similar and serious fever suspected to be Lassa fever.
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> After series of tests conducted on them, it was confirmed they died of the disease," Odagme said.
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> The commissioner also said that the state government was in control of the situation, adding that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other stakeholders were working to contain the outbreak. According to him, contact tracing has begun and sensitization of health care givers is ongoing to address the problem.
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> Odagme urged the public not to panic but report to the nearest hospital or health centre if they experience symptoms such as persistent high fever, stooling, vomiting and bleeding from the nose, mouth and anus. "The public is advised to improve on the sanitation of their environment and home to prevent contact of rats with food stuffs."
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> The fear of another Ebola epidemic is predicated on an analysis which shows that an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in early 2014 in Edo and some other states heralded the Ebola outbreak in Lagos and Port Harcourt in the later part of the year.
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> Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a group of illnesses caused by four families of viruses. These are the Ebola and Marburg, Lassa fever, and yellow fever viruses. VHFs have common features: they affect many organs, damage the blood vessels, and affect the body's ability to regulate itself.
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> Also, a new study published on Tuesday in PLOS suggests that areas of increased poverty are associated with higher rates of Ebola virus transmission. According to the study, since October 2014, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has been diminishing and efforts have shifted from emergency response to prevention and mitigation of future outbreaks.
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> Nigeria had through November 6, 2015, reported 270 Lassa fever cases from 12 states, according to data from health officials. According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), two Lassa fever deaths were reported in Kano State last month.
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> A nationwide outbreak of Lassa fever in 10 states, in March 2014, led to the loss of 20 lives, out of the 319 reported cases. The affected states were Anambra, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau and Taraba.
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> Former Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, had in April 2014, before the first case of Ebola was reported in July 2014, warned of outbreaks of Lassa fever, saying "some of these viruses belong to a group that causes similar diseases like yellow fever, which for 18 years now, we have not had a single case, but 18 years ago it devastated Nigeria.
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> "It is also the cause of what is called haemorrhagic fever, then Lassa fever which you know has been ongoing. There are even parts of Nigeria where it is endemic like the northern part of Edo State; they record a case every week and it is also very deadly."
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> Researchers from the Liberian Ministry of Health and the Yale Center for Infectious Disease Modelling and Analysis evaluated 3532 Ebola cases reported in 2014 in order to quantify the impact of poverty on the transmission and spread of Ebola. They found that areas stricken by extreme poverty were more likely to be associated with high rates of Ebola transmission and spread.
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> According to the study, in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, 68 per cent of the population lives in slum neighborhoods characterized by overcrowding and lack of proper sanitation.