8 DIED OF LASSA FEVER IN KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA

Not fewer than 8 people have been confirmed dead due to lassa fever infection in Jega local government area of Kebbi state while three others are still undergoing medical treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Birnin Kebbi. Information gathered at FMC ,Birnin Kebbi claimed that cases of Lassa fever were  received on Wednesday Feb. 27, 2013, and that three people were confirmed dead on the spot while two others died a day after they were brought into the hospital. It was further gathered that five more people were brought from the same local government and one died in the night, another one passed away the following day while the remaining three people are still undergoing medical treatment..

The patients were initially admitted in Accident and Emergency wards, before they were later transfered to the main ward due to the fact that lassa fever is an air-borne disease. A relation to one of the deceased, Mallam Mohammed Jega, said that initially they thought it was poison that had afflicted them, but on getting to the hospital, they discovered that it was Lassa fever. Efforts to contact the state commissioner of health, Alhaji Shehu Sambawa was not successful, though information has it that the state government took care of their drugs free of charge..