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Benue State Epidemiologist, Dr Msuega Asema, disclosed on Monday that in 2024, the state recorded 26 deaths from Lassa fever, while some other suspected cases were also recorded.
He also stated that three people from the same family lost their lives to a suspected case of Lassa fever in the state.
The incident, which according to the state epidemiologist, was recorded in the Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state, happened two weeks ago.
Asema, who spoke to journalists in Makurdi, the state capital, stated that the Ministry of Health and Human Services had alerted all its emergency response structures to be on the lookout for any potential infectious diseases that could undermine public health and safety.
He called on people in the state to always ensure their environment is clean and healthy.
Asema, who doubles as the Manager of the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre said that both Lassa fever and Ebola virus are zoonotic acute viral diseases which have the same symptoms and are transmittable by animals to humans.
He said, “Probable death is when someone dies and samples are not collected before death; a test is not done on the patient, but when relatives come down later with such symptoms, we say it is Lassa.
“So a total of 26 deaths were recorded in 2024, 11 confirmed while others are probable deaths.
“Currently we are still grappling with the outbreak, although it has not been declared officially by the Ministry of Health and Human Services, but we have pockets of suspected cases here and there.
“Two weeks ago, we lost three members from one family in Okpokwu who died of symptoms of Lassa fever; unfortunately, samples were not collected before their death.”
The epidemiologist said that the state is fully prepared in case there is an outbreak of viral disease, on account of its personnel, capacity and technical knowledge in terms of the response restructuring that the state has, like the public health emergency operation centres.
Asema, who observed that the state had in the past three years recorded Lassa fever cases, advised the public to keep good hygiene and warned against close contact with people suspected of having extreme fever despite taking all medications and not responding to treatment.
Such cases, he said, often present Lassa fever characteristics.
