Nigeria places hospital under surveillance over Lassa fever fears

The Nigerian government had placed under surveillance Ahmmadiyyah Hospital in Ojokoro, a Lagos suburb, where the patient with the first Lassa fever virus case was first admitted, an official said on Sunday.

There will be no service delivery in the facility until further notice, Jide Idris, the Lagos State commissioner for Health said in a statement made available to Xinhua.

Idris added that the 15 in-patients and other 25 health workers in the facility were being monitored. The commissioner confirmed the deadly disease purportedly contacted by a 25-year-old, male, undergraduate student of the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria in Kaduna State.

Lassa fever is a zoonotic virus, transmitted when a human comes into contact with an infected rat's feces, urine, or the bodily fluids of an infected human.

Idris said the Lassa fever case was the first occurrence in the state claiming that the government was doing its best to curtail its spread.

The medical doctor added that isolation centers had been prepared to manage suspected and confirmed cases.

He also urged its citizens to be alert and informed government if suspected of any case. Endit