Some have described it as a dreaded viral assassin.
Within a space of about 10 weeks, it has
spread from remote areas in a few states to more than half of Nigeria’s
36 states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and left a
trail of death and suspicion in its wake.
The cold, death tracks left by the Lassa
fever virus late last year in remote villages in Niger, Bauchi and Kano
states has since snowballed into a national emergency.
Lassa fever has reportedly killed about
63 people out of 212 suspected cases in 62 local government areas across
17 states in the country since its outbreak in August last year.
At an emergency National Council of
Health meeting on the outbreak of the disease, which held last Tuesday
in Abuja, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, had listed the
affected states as Niger, Bauchi, Kano, Taraba, Rivers, Ondo, Oyo, Edo,
Lagos, Plateau, Gombe, Delta, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kogi and Zamfara,
and the Federal Capital Territory.
Rats, garri spreading deadly virus
According to the World Health
Organisation, Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused
by Lassa virus, which is transmitted to humans from contact with food or
household items contaminated with the excreta or urine of infected
multimammate rats.
This specie of rats is a common sight in
both rural and urban areas in Nigeria. In some parts of the country, it
is a culinary delight.
According to the United States Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Lassa fever was first discovered in
1969 in Lassa village in Borno State, Nigeria, where two missionary
nurses had died. The number of Lassa virus infections per year in West
Africa is estimated at 100,000 to 300,000, with approximately 5,000
deaths.
WHO noted that person-to-person
infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in
the hospital environment when there is absence of adequate infection
control measures.
Because the disease is endemic in the
rodent population, people living in rural areas, especially in
communities with poor sanitation or crowded living conditions, are at
greatest risk.
Like in Fuka, a remote village in Muyan
Local Government Area of Niger State, where the recent cases of Lassa
fever were first reported.
By the time it was discovered, 16 people had already died from the virus.
Locals in the village of about a few
thousand people are mainly yam and rice farmers. It also boasts of
thriving market days where market women especially, sell food items like
garri, which is made from processed cassava tubers. In a bid to
determine their quality, it is common for buyers to taste it first
before buying.
As food, garri could be soaked in water and eaten with any protein combination, or cooked with hot water and eaten with soup.
In Fuka, as well as in other rural and
urban areas in Nigeria, it is common for residents to leave food items
in the open in the market place, exposing it to the urine and faeces of
infected rats that might crawl over them
Experts say such practices expose food items, such as garri, a popular staple for millions of Nigerians to Lassa virus.
The President, Society for Public Health
Professionals of Nigeria, who also chairs one of the committees set up
by the Federal Ministry of Health to address the Lassa fever outbreak,
Prof. Michael Asuzu, said the first case was recorded in August last
year. He noted that most of the cases occurred around a market area.
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