When Lassa fever put Katsina govt, health officials to task

When the family of Mamman Muhammad brought the corpse of their deceased brother to Kankara town for burial, little did they know that they were importing Lassa fever to Katsina State. Their brother had been bedridden in Kaduna, before he died at a health facility. Three days after he was taken to Katsina, health authorities […]

When the family of Mamman Muhammad brought the corpse of their deceased brother to Kankara town for burial, little did they know that they were importing Lassa fever to Katsina State.
Their brother had been bedridden in Kaduna, before he died at a health facility. Three days after he was taken to Katsina, health authorities from Kaduna notified their Katsina counterparts that the deceased died from Lassa fever.
While the Katsina State Ministry of Health officials were battling with the news, another patient who was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre in the state died after exhibiting symptoms of Lassa fever.
It was gathered that the patient took ill after he returned from a visit to his relative at Gwagwalada, Abuja. His samples were taken to a laboratory for test and it turned out that he died of Lassa fever.
Disturbed by the news, a massive manhunt was launched by state health officials for all those who were suspected to have had close contact with the victims.
Of special concern were the seven family members from Kankara town who took part in the washing and dressing of the corpse that was brought in from Kaduna.
The first primary contact within the family was a 27-year-old man (name withheld) who was said to have transported the corpse from Kaduna. He got infected and was  quarantined at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre at Babbar Ruga.
The remaining six people were rounded up and isolated and their samples taken. Most of them turned out positive. The situation caused serious panic among residents of the state.
The state Director of Public Health, Dr. Shamsudden Yahaya, said about 18 primary contacts from the initially reported outbreak had been quarantined just as over 100 secondary contacts were closely monitored among them.
Several others were later learnt to have had close contacts, making the primary contacts at the isolation centre, 34. At the last count, no fewer than eight persons had tested positive to Lassa fever.
As the number increased, government swung into action with the re-activation of several comatose committees among which was the Epidemic Preparedness Committee in all the 34 local government councils of the state.
Massive sensitisation campaigns were kick-started with the involvement of traditional, religious and opinion leaders. This was in addition to radio jingles and education programmes among others.
For Dr. Kabir Mustapha, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Health, successes are being recorded as from the latest report of 24 samples sent, none was positive.
‘‘This is good news for us; it shows that the patients are responding to treatment’’, he said.
He said effective collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), and the National Centre for Disease Control was yielding results and called for sustenance of synergy for more successes.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that some doctors and nurses were also under observation at the state general hospital, after they had contacts with suspected patients. An amenity ward was converted to an isolation centre where they were kept.
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Health, Mariyatu Bala Usman, said since the reported case, government has been up and doing; committing so much resources towards addressing the outbreak.
She said a work plan had been developed focusing more on prevention and control in addition to the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for training of health personnel and effective surveillance mechanism to check spread.
She said the people must cooperate by providing useful information to the authority.
The Emir of Katsina,  Alhaji  Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, said the Lassa fever epidemic was a source of concern. He enjoined the people to ensure personal hygiene and avoid contact with or eating food left in the open.