Date: 2017-08-19

The Kwara Government has confirmed a case of Lassa Fever in the state.

The State Commissioner for Health, Mr Atolagbe Alege, made the confirmation at a news briefing in Ilorin on Friday. Lassa Fever Alege said that out of the five samples taken to the Virology Research Centre at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), one sample was confirmed positive for Lassa Fever.

The commissioner said the sample was taken from Babanla Primary Health Care Centre in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state. According to him, the specimen belonged to a 10 year-old boy.

The commissioner, however, said that in Oro-Ago axis, all the four samples taken tested negative. He said that a medical team from the State Department of Public Health was being deployed to Babanla immediately to monitor the situation.

Alege said the team would isolate the victim and commence contact tracing for possible treatment and quarantine, where necessary. The commissioner also said isolation centres would be created at the General Hospital in Omu-Aran and Oro Ago.

He further said that the information had been promptly communicated to the National Centre for Diseases Control which had been working with the state to nip the disease in the bud. Alege appealed to members of the Babanla community not to panic as the government was on top of the situation to prevent further outbreak.

The commissioner urged residents of the state to take personal hygiene seriously and keep their environment tidy at all times. (NAN)