Lassa fever: Eight out of nine tested cases have come out positive - Buma

Gbangsheya Buma, the Taraba State Commissioner for Health, has alerted the general public of the recent Lassa fever outbreak in the state, stating that eight out of nine tested cases have come out positive, Premium Times reports.

Buma said this in a phone call to Premium Times, assuring them that the situation was being closely monitored by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Jalingo authorities.

“It is not a surprising thing, this is the season and we have made preparations, though the outbreak may be overwhelming. I just received support from NCDC, they have sent some people here to provide technical support with the aim of stopping the progress of the disease,” he said

The acting head of clinical services at FMC Jalingo, Joseph Kuni, further explained, that this year alone, 19 patients have already died in the isolation center.

He sent in the first two months of this year, FMC Jalingo sent 105 samples for testing, and while they still wait for six results, they have 60 positive and 39 negative results so far.

Kuni also said that FMC Jalingo could not run tests on samples at the moment, due to a fire outbreak that affected the modular laboratory last year, so they have been sending samples to Bauchi State and the Federal Capital Territory.

This has made the testing of the samples slower.

“This year the number of patients at the center (isolation) is on a higher side compared to previous seasons, that’s why it is challenging for us. In fact, we have written for more assistance from NCDC and the state government. Despite the fact that they have been doing well in assisting us, we are still soliciting them to do more considering the number of cases we have recorded,” Kuni said.

Kuni added that the central part of Taraba State accounts for majority of the cases so far.