The Kano Centre for Disease Control has confirmed the death of one person and two additional infections following a Lassa fever outbreak in the state.
The agency’s Director-General, Mohammed Adamu, made this known while briefing journalists on Monday night.
He said the deceased, a staff member of Médecins Sans Frontières, died from complications of the disease, while a doctor and another woman later contracted the infection after coming into contact with the victim.
Adamu said, “We recorded a case of Lassa fever but we were able to bring the situation under control.”
He elaborated that the index case involved a French national who began showing symptoms about a week after arriving in Nigeria.
Adamu stated, “On the 28th January, a white woman from France who worked with Médecins Sans Frontières. After a week of coming to Nigeria, she came down with a fever. She went to the hospital, where she was given medications.
“After three days, she discovered the illness was deteriorating as she was bleeding. So she went to a hospital, unfortunately, she passed away on that same day.”
He added that her remains were taken to the mortuary at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital before authorities were notified.
“They moved her corpse to the mortuary at AKTH and later we were informed about the development. So we collected her blood sample to carry out a series of tests and she tested positive for Lassa fever,” he said.
He further revealed that contact tracing had uncovered additional infections.
Adamu said, “We discovered a doctor from Minjibir who had earlier had an interface with her also came down with the infection and also one other woman.”
He added that 62 contacts were identified across five local government areas.
“The two people had an interface with 62 people within five local government areas in the state. Out of the 62, we thought 25 were at risk of being infected. We took blood samples from 25 people, out of which 22 tested negative, while three tested positive. One is dead, two are in isolation,” he said.
Adamu stated that the female patient is currently isolated at AKTH, while the doctor is receiving treatment at the Yargaya isolation centre.
He added, “We have deployed our personnel to intensify public enlightenment in Minjibir to sensitize the people.”
The director-general also added that the Ministry of Environment will fumigate affected areas to eradicate rats, the main carriers of the disease, and prevent further spread.
Lassa fever is an acute viral heamorrhagic illness endemic to West Africa, caused by the Lassa virus and primarily transmitted to humans through contact with food, surfaces, or household items contaminated by the urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats.
Common symptoms include fever, headache, general weakness, vomiting with severe cases sometimes leading to bleeding. About 25 per cent of survivors may suffer permanent hearing loss.
There is currently no licensed vaccine for the disease, but early supportive care and the antiviral drug ribavirin can help, with the treatment being most effective when administered promptly after infection.
