Lassa fever kills three in SE Nigeria

Health authority in southeast Nigeria's Anambra State Thursday confirmed three died of Lassa fever.

State Director of Public Health Emmanuel Okafor, who disclosed this at one-day workshop on Lassa fever in Awka, the state capital, said a medical doctor and two others lost their lives due to new cases of Lassa fever.

However, he said the outbreak was not yet in an epidemic proportion in the state, and the state government had put in place proactive measures to handle the scourge.

The workshop was aimed at training the health professionals who would go to the grassroots to educate the people on the prevention of the disease, Okafor said.

He urged health workers to exercise high standard of professionalism in handling Lassa fever cases.

Lassa fever is an acute and often fatal viral disease, occurring mainly in West Africa. It is usually transmitted by contact with the saliva or excreta of rats accessing homes and food stores. Endit