Nigeria: Lassa Fever outbreak

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_i...0143379C877858

Lazza fever kills 17 in Nigeria in a month
May 18 2010 at 02:04PM Get IOL on your
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A fresh outbreak of Lassa fever has killed 17 people and left dozens infected in northern Nigeria's Kebbi State in the past month, a health official said on Tuesday.

"We have so far lost 17 people to the Lassa fever outbreak which started about four weeks ago," state chief epidemiologist Shehu Mohammed told AFP.

Lassa fever is an endemic acute viral haemorrhagic illness common in west Africa, which is usually contracted through contact with rodents' excreta.

"Scores of people have been confirmed to have been infected with the disease," said Mohammed in a phone interview.

He said the outbreak was recorded in three local districts, including the state capital Birnin-Kebbi, the worst hit with nine recorded deaths...

[Shiloh]

Re: Nigeria: Lass Fever outbreak

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89195

NIGERIA: Lassa fever claims 17 lives in Kebbi State

KANO, 20 May 2010 (IRIN) - Health authorities are on alert as Lassa fever has now claimed 17 lives and infected dozens of people in northwestern Nigeria's Kebbi State, according to state health officials.

The last outbreak of the deadly disease took place in February 2010, killing seven people, including four doctors at the National Hospital in Abuja.

In March 2009 over 300 people were infected in 14 states across the country...

[alert]

Re: Nigeria: Lass Fever outbreak

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89195

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The last outbreak of the deadly disease took place in February 2010, killing seven people, including four doctors at the National Hospital in Abuja.

That is a typo. The outbreak in Abuja was in February 2009, not 2010. FT covered it here:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95394

[Shiloh]

Re: Nigeria: Lassa Fever outbreak

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201005260369.html

Nigeria: Lassa Fever Outbreak
26 May 2010


A recent outbreak of Lassa fever killed seventeen people in Kebbi State. According to officials of the state Ministry of Health, they became aware of the disease when a test on its epidemiology was conducted by the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) which confirmed it as Lassa fever. It is said to be currently prevalent in three local government areas of Kebbi State: Augie, Birnin Kebbi and Kalgo. Out of the seventeen fatal cases, the highest with nine occurred in Birnin Kebbi.

Following reports of outbreaks of the Lassa fever in some parts of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory earlier this year, the Senate in a resolution urged the three tiers of government in the country to take appropriate measures to tackle the annual menace. The chairman, National Lassa Fever Stakeholders Forum, Prof. George Akpede, recently declared at a news conference in Abuja that some 51 million Nigerians are at the risk of contracting Lassa fever. Akpede said the number of Lassa fever-related illnesses might reach three million with an annual death of about 58,000...