The Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency has confirmed three new cases of Lassa fever in 2020 in the state.
The Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, who disclosed this while addressing journalists on Friday in Bauchi, said there is no record of any death in the state since the outbreak.
He said the sample of 15 other cases that were suspected to be Lassa fever had been sent to the National Disease Control Center in Abuja for testing to authenticate them.
Mohammed stated that the Lassa fever epidemic was not new in the state, describing the state as “an endemic state for Lassa fever.”
He said, “We heard of the news of some deaths in Kano as a result of Lassa fever and there are a lot of speculations going on regarding Bauchi State. This year in Bauchi, we have recorded 15 suspected cases of Lassa fever, three have been confirmed while 21 turned out to be negative.
“What happened was that a lady, who lives in Kano, came back to Bauchi to see her family and stayed for some days in Bauchi for some time and later travelled to a village in Toro LGA. The highest and greatest risk LGAs in the state for Lassa fever are Toro, Bauchi and Tafawa Balewa.
“So, she went there and that was where the infection started but I don’t want to say anything more because as an epidemiologist, I don’t talk about what didn’t happen here in Bauchi. But the initial stage of the infection was Toro LGA.”
signaturetv.org/punch/IJM