Posted on Mar 19, 2020
No fewer than 16 persons, including two doctors, were said to have died of Lassa fever in Bauchi State this year.
The Bauchi State Surveillance Support Officer, Dr. Suleiman Lawal, addressing reporters yesterday at the Lassa fever camp at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), said that 43 confirmed cases had also been recorded in the state since January.
He said one of the doctors died at the ATBUTH, while the other one died at a private clinic in the state.
Lawal said: “Totally, we have seven health workers that were affected. One of the doctors who was pregnant and had the disease, we managed her and discharged her. Four others are on admission, we’ve been managing them. They are now stable. In fact, we will discharge two of them today because they have finished their 10-day treatment period.
“Most of the deaths are as a result of late reporting and that is not our fault. Something will happen and people will not report in time. So we are appealing to people to always come in time.”
Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammad said yesterday that his administration would establish isolation centres in three hospitals to manage persons infected with Lassa fever.