» Ogun State Confirms First Lassa Fever Case, Places 60 People Under Watch «

he Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde
Ipaye, on Thursday said the state had recorded the first
case of Lassa fever.
Ipaye said this during a press conference held at Oke
Mosan in Abeokuta, thestate capital.
He identified the index case in the state as a 28-year-old
lady, “discovered on Wednesday February 3 at 8:10pm.”
Ipaye said the victim had travelled to Ebonyi for a burial
and returned to Ogun on January 15, and later started
manifesting the symptoms of the viral disease.
He said, “The victim had accessed treatment at Ruby
Medical Centre, Ota. She was said to have been moved
another hospital, Central Specialist Hospital, Ota. It was
the management of the Central Specialist Hospital that
called the state Ministry of Health.”
“We moved in immediately and took her in. We have shut
the two health facilities for decontamination.”
Ipaye said the victim had been transferred to the Olabisi
Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, one of the
isolation centres for the disease.
He added, “The confirmatory test was done and the result
came in last night. We started emergency procedures
immediately and she has been moved to the isolation
centre in Sagamu.
“She has been given the drug, ribavirin and still under
observation. She has had fever and other symptoms but
have not started bleeding.
“She has passed through two private hospitals, which have
now been shut for decontamination.”
Ipaye also said 60 persons who had contact with the
victim in the two health facilities including three members
of her family were under watch.
He said the first 35 contacts were health workers in the
first hospital, 22 in the second one and three others were
family members of the victim.
He said, “These 60 people have been placed under
surveillance, but I want to appeal to the residents not to
panic. They must be vigilant and maintain good hygiene in
their homes.”
Ipaye commended the management of the Central
Specialist Hospital for its patriotism in contacting the
government and saving the state from the scourge of
Lassa fever.
The state government had on Tuesday January 26, raised
the alarm on 19 suspected cases of the Lassa fever who
had contact with the first index case in Ahmadiyyah
Hospital, Ijaiye in Ojokoro Local Government Area of Lagos
but live in Ogun State.
Ipaye, however, said all the 19 persons have been declared
free of the disease, “because they did not manifest the
symptoms of the disease, not even of malaria fever.”