Three Confirmed With Lassa Fever In Akwa Ibom, One Already Dead

The Akwa Ibom State government have confirmed three indigenes with Lassa fever in the state and sadly one of them already passed on before her test result came out. The woman, a 53-year old crayfish seller was the third person who was confirmed to have the deadly virus in the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong, disclosed this at the inauguration of a task force on the eradication of Lassa Fever in the state yesterday. He said;

“We had three suspected cases including one confirmed case. Unfortunately the confirmed case, a 53-year-old woman who sells crayfish, has died. Her test result came out after she had died. The third case is someone that has been under treatment for HIV. This shows how serious this problem has become in the state. Continue...

“We are worried because of the fact that during the Christmas period, the 53-year-old woman got in contact with some of the family members and some of them had already travelled back to other states before taking ill on January 5, and then went to a private hospital where she was being treated.

“The doctors suspected at the private clinic that it was a bigger health issue and referred her to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital. She was isolated there and she eventually died. We are also going to trace those that she had contact with in the hospitals and the mortuary workers. It is a big problem we are going to solve. And I want to appeal to health workers that we must get every detail.