By BANNERNEWS Reporter
Four persons, including two pregnant women, have died from suspected Lassa fever in Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, triggering heightened health concerns and emergency containment measures.
Following the development, the General Hospital in Awe has been shut down, while health workers, including the Medical Superintendent, have been placed under isolation as a precaution against further spread of the disease.
The outbreak reportedly began when a woman was rushed to a health facility in Awe with symptoms suspected to be Lassa fever but died before receiving treatment. Her husband later developed similar symptoms and also died.
Speaking on the situation, the Disease Surveillance Officer in the area, Mallam Ahmad Yahuza Abdullahi, blamed the fatalities on poor handling of suspected cases and severe logistical constraints affecting surveillance efforts.
Abdullahi lamented that none of the Disease Surveillance Officers across the 13 local government areas of Nasarawa State had been provided with motorcycles, a situation he said hampers prompt response to remote communities.
He added that although the state government deployed an ambulance to Awe to evacuate six suspected cases to Lafia for isolation, the patients reportedly escaped before laboratory test results were released.
Health workers in the area have also raised alarm over the lack of protective equipment. A nurse at the General Hospital, Awe, Mr. Ovey Polycarp, said fear had gripped staff due to the absence of basic protective gear.
According to him, the two pregnant women were brought to the hospital almost simultaneously with symptoms initially resembling malaria, but their conditions rapidly deteriorated to bleeding and haemorrhage, eventually leading to their deaths.
Confirming the incident, the Director of Public Health at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Dr. Peter Attah, said only one case of Lassa fever had so far been officially recorded in Awe LGA, noting that the patient died before laboratory results were released.
