ABUJA – The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday March 11, confirmed there is a decline in number of new cases of Lassa fever in Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja, adding that the number of death from the disease had reduced considerably compared to 2018.
He declared that the Centre and its partners had continued to sustain response activities in states across the country, despite progress made so far.
“An outbreak of Lassa fever was declared in Nigeria on Jan. 21, 2019. Since then, 420 confirmed cases and 93 deaths have been reported in 21 states.
“The national response is being coordinated by the national, multi-sectoral, multi-partner Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) led by the NCDC.
“In addition, the centre has supported Ebonyi, Edo, Ondo, Plateau and Kebbi States in activating sub-national level EOCs for coordination,’’ the chief executive officer said.
The NCDC boss disclosed that following the large Lassa fever outbreak in 2018, the centre, together with partners, instituted five key measures to ensure improved preparedness in 2019.
These include:
- Training of over one thousand health care workers in the six zones in the country on Lassa fever management, diagnosis and surveillance, together with the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital;
- Prepositioning of treatment and diagnostic supplies to the 21 states that recorded cases in 2018, treatment centres and laboratories;
- Publishing Lassa fever messages on three major newspapers, weekly radio shows on Radio Nigeria, and intensive community engagement;
- Embarking on high level advocacy visits to State Governments, encouraging them to do more to prevent and respond to cases of Lassa fever;
- Developing new case management guidelines, initiating a Lassa fever Research Consortium and hosting an International conference on Lassa Fever to share knowledge.
“In 2018, genetic sequencing carried out at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital showed that the virus circulating originated from the pool of lineages that have been in Nigeria since the first discovery. This year, early sequencing result shows similar findings.
“The preliminary results of 42 Lassa fever virus sequences indicate that rodent to human transmission, as observed in 2018, is still the dominant route of transmission. Therefore, there is a strong need to improve prevention measures especially around environmental sanitation.
“The progress recorded in the response to the 2019 Lassa fever outbreak including an early decline in the number of new cases and reduced case fatality have been attributed to various factors.
“This includes the early deployment of One-Health national RRTs, improvement of functions in Lassa fever treatment centres, revision of case management guidelines, enforcement of environmental sanitation in some states, introduction of the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) ring strategy, targeted intensified risk communications activities, high level advocacy visits, operational research into response activities, amongst others. We are grateful to our partners including the World Health Organization, UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, Medecins Sans Frontiers, World Bank, ALIMA, African Field Epidemiology Network.
“We also applaud the efforts of state epidemiologists, treatment centres and laboratories in the country, especially the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital Edo, Federal Medical Centre Owo, Ondo and Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi.”
Dr. Ihekweazu urged Nigerians to continue to practice preventive measures to avoid infection.
“Prevention of Lassa fever relies on promoting good community hygiene to discourage rodents from entering homes. Other effective measures include storing grains and other foodstuff in rodent-proof containers, proper disposal of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households and frequent hand hygiene. All food should be well prepared, and family members should always be careful to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for sick persons.
“Healthcare workers are urged to maintain a high index of suspicion for Lassa fever when handling patients, irrespective of their health status. Lassa fever should be considered in patients with fever, headache, sore throat and malaise, in whom Malaria has been ruled out with a rapid diagnostic test (RDT), especially when patients are not getting better.
“Health workers should adhere to standard precautions including wearing protective apparels when handling suspected Lassa fever patients. The revised Lassa fever case management guidelines are available on the NCDC website, www.ncdc.gov.ng.”