Lassa fever: Death toll rises to 41 from 93 suspected cases —Minister

The Federal Government disclosed, yesterday, that Lassa fever has claimed 41 lives from 93 reported cases in 10 states of the country even as the Senate has summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, over the outbreak of the disease.



The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Federal Government, last Friday, put the death toll at 40 out of 86 reported cases of Lassa fever outbreak in same 10 states. The number of the suspected cases also rose from 86 last week to 93.

Adewole, who confirmed this in Abuja, yesterday, at a joint ministerial news conference on the update of the outbreak of the disease, however, said there were no new confirmed cases or death in the last 48 hours.

He said: “In the last 48 hours, the government raised a four-man expert committee, chaired by Prof. Michael Asuzu, to visit Kano, Niger and Bauchi, the three most endemic states. The committee will embark on a fact-finding mission, assess the current situation, document response experiences, identify gaps and proffer recommendations on how to prevent future occurrences.”

The minister assured the public that the task of the committee was not to apportion blame but rather to document lessons learnt for better planning of an affective responsive.