hearing loss, which improves over time. Prevention requires isolating those who are infected and decreasing contact with rodents. Other efforts to control the spread of the disease include having a cat to hunt rodents in homes and storing food in sealed containers.
Knowing that Lassa fever is a seasonal disease with no vaccine yet for preventing infection, public health institutions should embark on enlightenment campaigns to educate the public on preventive measures against the disease well before the dry season sets in; the usual period of its outbreak. Nigerians should be educated to keep their homes clean as rodents are attracted to dirty environments. Drying foodstuff along the roads should be avoided to avert contamination. Bush burning which could displace rats from bushes to human dwellings should be discouraged. While households should be advised to cover dustbins, communities should set up dump sites which are common habitats for rats far from their homes. To achieve all these, public health workers (otherwise called duba gari in Northern Nigeria’s native authority days) should be empowered and strengthened to effectively implement the measures.
While it is cheering that the Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto (UDUS) has produced a COVID-19 vaccine, it is disappointing that a vaccine against Lassa fever is still not available five decades after it was discovered. This is despite all the pharmaceutical research institutes in the country and the Lassa fever Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) Treatment Centre at Irrua in Edo State. To avert the huge annual loss of lives from the disease, we call on government to show enough commitment in supporting relevant research efforts at producing a Lassa fever vaccine. NCDC is urged to collaborate with states in the provision of more testing laboratories. It is time to check Lassa fever.
Source : Daily Trust
