From NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna & Emmanuel Uzor, Abakaliki
Four persons including an unborn baby have been confirmed dead at the St. Louis Specialist Hospital in Zonkwa, Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State following the outbreak of Lassa fever. This is even as a 10-year-old boy died in Ebonyi State.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Jonathan Nok, confirmed the death to newsmen yesterday in Kaduna.
He said a medical doctor, a nurse and a pregnant woman were the deceased.
Dr. Nok said the medical staff had shown symptoms of Lassa fever shortly they operated a pregnant woman who was brought in from another hospital in Kafanchan, Jama’a local government.
He said they all later died few days after they were tested positive to the deadly disease.
According to him, the affected hospitals have been put under isolation so as to trace the primary and secondary contacts with the deceased.
However, the commissioner urged residents not to panic as government was on top of the situation, just as he advised them to maintain personal hygiene around their homes.
For the second time, the disease killed a 10-year-old boy in Ebonyi State.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezuruike, confirmed the boy’s death.
He said the victim died after he was discharged from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, describing the incident as unfortunate. He noted that the deceased was a day student of one of the primary schools and hailed from Igbeagu, in Izzi Local Government Area.
Dr. Umezuruike said the boy’s parents were based in Abuja, but that the report before them did not show that the deceased travelled to meet with his parents in recent times.
He said the deceased was not rushed to the hospital immediately he became sick, adding that the deceased responded to treatment at first and as such, the hospital discharged him.