The dreaded Rodent spread disease, Lassa fever has claimed a 7s year old victim in its latest outbreak in Delta state, officials have confirmed on Sunday.
The Delta State government confirmed the death of the 75-year-old woman was as a result of Lassa fever.
The state government revealed this through a statement signed by the Delta state Director of Information, Paul Osahor, who reiterated that the incident occurred after the aged woman fell sick and was taken to the General Hospital, Umuolu, Ndokwa East Local Government Area (LGA) on Saturday, August 18, 2018.
She was however referred to the Central Hospital, Kwale, Ndokwa West LGA the following day, August 19th and from there was further referred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba on August 24, 2018.
The aged Lassa fever victim however died before the result of the test her blood was being subjected to could be ready. She died in the same day her lab result was received which confirmed that she was indeed infected with the Lassa virus that causes Lassa fever.
Due to this occurrence, the Delta state government has advised residents in the state not to panic, because Ministry of Health officials are on top of the situation and are tracing the contacts of the victim in order to control the spread of the virus in the state.
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The state government however did not fail to note that it has been over 21 days since the victim was presented at the hospital in Umuolu and Kwale and no case has been discovered there yet while contact tracing is ongoing at FMC, Asaba; 21 days is the required period for the Lassa fever virus to manifest symptoms in victims.
Not taking anything for granted however, the state advised the citizens to put safety measures in place such as the cultivation of good personal hygiene.
Residents are also advised to clean and fumigate their environment, promote community hygiene to prevent rodents from entering homes and protect food from rats, as well as to report any case of strange fever to the nearest hospital.