It is indeed a shame for Nigeria that 50 years after the disease was discovered in Nigeria, thousands of Nigerians still suffer from Lassa fever with hundreds dying every year. It is the mark of a nation that cares little for the health of her citizens and criminal neglect of the welfare her citizens.” These were the words of a foremost virologist and head of National Committee on Lassa fever, Prof. Oyewale Tomori.
Lassa fever, which is endemic in Nigeria and most common during the dry season (January-March), is a contagious haemorrhagic fever and can lead to death in more than 70 percent of hospitalized patients. It has the highest incidence of any viral haemorrhagic fever in the world.
The disease is initially contracted from contact with rats and then can spread to other people through bodily fluids, making health care workers especially susceptible. Latest figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that from January 1 to 13, 2019, a total of 172 suspected cases have been reported and of these, 60 were confirmed positive and 112 negative. It also noted that since the onset of the 2019 outbreak, there have been 16 deaths in confirmed cases and Case Fatality Rate (CFR) in confirmed cases is 26.7 per cent.
According to the Centre, eight states (Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa Ebonyi, Plateau, Taraba and FCT) have recorded at least one confirmed case across 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs).In 2018, Nigeria experienced the largest confirmed Lassa fever cases in a single year. Also, despite the fact the virus was discovered in Lassa town in Borno State fifty years ago, the country still continues to experience yearly outbreaks.
Despite affecting up to 300,000 people per year across West Africa, and leading to more than 5,000 deaths annually, Lassa fever is a poorly understood disease that is challenging to diagnose and treat. Only a few laboratories in affected areas can diagnose the virus—which can lead to delays in starting treatment. While initially spread through contact with infected rats, managing Lassa fever requires appropriate use of personal protective equipment and other infection prevention and control measures, to protect healthcare workers and relatives of patients.
“One of the major challenges of treating Lassa fever is the nature of the disease itself because at the onset, it mimics diseases like malaria. A lot of time is wasted before the patient actually presents for treatment, and the prognosis gets very bad if treatment is not commenced within six days from the onset of symptoms. What we can actually do to contend is to carry out routine tests on almost everybody that has fever to make sure we provide the appropriate treatment,” said Health Commissioner of Ebonyi State, Dr. Umezurike Daniel.
Tomori in his keynote address at the first Lassa Fever International Conference in Abuja, which was organized by the NCDC, said: “There was frustration in my voice as I sounded like a broken record, repeating the same recommendations for controlling Lassa fever, made on numerous occasions in times past, to deaf and uncaring government officials, and some of our colleagues who mis-appropriated or mis-applied the little fund teased out of the tight fingers of government (like blood out of a stone). Tight fingers when money is needed for good purposes, and loose fingers when resources are set aside for looting!
“I appealed to all responsible to stop embarrassing Nigeria, by calling on donors to do for us what we should and are able to do for ourselves. Will the call again be unheard by those with deaf ears and unseen by those blinded by greed? I hope we will not have to wait for another 50 years and thousands of Nigerians to die before we hear the call of sanity.”
Survivors narrate ordeal
*I feared not just for my life but for my fertility if I survived, Dr. David Eseile Eseigbe
*Surviving doctor wants life insurance, better hazard allowance for professionals working in infectious disease centres
Dr. David Eseile Eseigbe is a medical doctor/case management officer, working with the Infection Control Centre Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owo, Ondo State, and the Alliance for International Medical Actions (ALIMA). He specialises in managing Lassa fever cases.
Prior to my admission into medical school in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma January 2006,the prevalence of Lassa fever and its attendant mortality was a huge health burden and public importance to the dwellers in Edo central/North and its environs.