The Federal Capital Territory Administration ( FCTA ) said it has not yet recorded any case of Lassa fever in the territory. The FCT’s Director of Public Health, Dr Humphrey Okoroukwu made this known in an interview with reporters in Abuja on Friday.
He dismissed the speculation on the reported case of Lassa fever in Asokoro General Hospital as “false”. Okoroukwu explained that some samples of the suspected cases were taken to Irrua Laboratory in Edo State and the result was negative, while that of another suspected cases admitted in one of the hospitals in FCT was being awaited.
According to him, the FCTA has deployed its Health Promotion Education Team to sensitise residents in markets, motor parks, schools and streets on the causes and symptoms on Lassa fever for them to take proactive measures against the deadly disease. He said that his department had begun Facility-Based Clinical Sensitisations in hospitals to educate medical personnel and other health workers about Lassa Fever which had been reported in some states across the federation.
Okoroukwu noted also that the sensitisation was because some doctors had died as a result of the disease outbreak in other states.
“We have been going from one hospital to the other to sensitise our medical professionals on how they can identify and handle suspected cases.
“We have Disease Surveillance Structure in communities, wards and area councils, we have sensitized them and they are on red alert,” he said.
The director stressed that the proactive measures were necessary because of the territory’s proximity with Kogi and Nasarawa states where cases of Lassa fever had been reported.
Okoroukwu assured the residents that the administration was doing everything possible to prevent Lassa fever outbreak in the FCT.