Lassa fever resurges in Bauchi as 30 test positive

Thirty persons from six local government areas of Bauchi State have tested positive to Lassa fever in what seems a resurgence of the disease in the state.

The Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA), Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, disclosed this while interacting with journalists on the current situation of the disease and other issues of primary health care services held at the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in Bauchi.

According to him, the 30 persons whose results were positive were part of those samples taken across the state.

Dr Mohammed informed that the victims were from Bauchi; Bogoro, Ganjuwa; Kirfi; Tafawa Balewa and Toro Local Government Areas in the Bauchi South and Central zones of the state.

While attributing the resurgence of the disease to the ongoing harvesting of farm produce, the chairman informed that between January and December this year, a total of 153 probable cases of Lassa fever were recorded in the state.

According to Mohammed, out of this figure, 136 were randomly tested with eight people confirmed dead.

The BASPHCDA boss, however, assured that the state government is taking all necessary medical and preventive measures with a view to ensuring safety of the people of the state.

He added that the agency is waiting for intervention from the state governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, to procure more drugs and injectables to tackle the disease in order to ensure that it is prevented from spreading to other parts of the state.

Mohammed subsequently tasked the people in the state to always ensure personal and environmental hygiene, which he said would enable them to control the spread of Lassa fever and other communicable diseases.

Meanwhile, while speaking on the Covid-19 pandemic, the BASPHCDA chairman informed that Bauchi State had received a total of 350,000 doses of Pfizer BioNtech vaccines from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) for use as booster doses.

The booster doses, according to him, would only be administered on those who had had their first and second doses of AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines in the state.