Two persons, among them a pregnant woman have died since the reported outbreak of Lassa fever in Enugu.
On the whole six, suspected cases were reported out of which 3 were confirmed.
The third victim, a 24-year-old female youth corper who just returned from Benue state survived the attack and is responding to treatment.
These were disclosed at a press conference jointly addressed by the Enugu state ministries for Information, Health, Education, Water Resources and Agriculture on Friday at the state Secretariat.
The pregnant woman who died from the Lassa fever attack was as a result of reporting late to health facilities.
The commissioner for information, Chidi Aroh who presided at the conference assured that Enugu state government was being conscious of the scourge and is taking necessary steps to protect the people against it.
He said the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has exhibited his leadership qualities in this direction and as a result, the management of the crisis was on course.
โJingles are being run in radio and television stations for enlightenment while leaflets on how to prevent the fever have been printed and being distributed across the state.
โGovernment has purchased all required materials and equipment to fight the scourge as well as providing emergency facilities in the event of any noticed occurrence in any part of the state,โ Aroh hinted.
He disclosed that apart from the 11 government hospitals mapped out for emergency, nine private hospitals have been added as emergency facilities, bringing the total to 20 hospitals across the state.
In addition to these, Aroh informed that the state government has directed the fumigation of all refuse dumps in the state with a view to ridding them of rodents.
The permanent secretary in the ministry of health, Dr Ifeanyi Agujiobi assured that the scourge has been under control since the first reported case on January 2.
He confirmed that the ministry has received full consignment of materials and equipment, adding that the health workers at various designated hospitals were being adequately protected.
Agujiobi assured that efforts were being made to permanently uproot the source of the spread of the scourge, particularly rodent rats.
โThe state government is on top of the situation and by the special grace of God, it will be a thing of the past, โ he said.
The commissioner for education, Prof Uchenna Eze said the received directive from Governor Ugwuanyi to reach out to every school in the state โ primary, post primary and tertiary and educate them on how to protect themselves against Lassa fever.
