The minister assured the public that the task of the committee was not to apportion blame but rather to document lessons learnt for better planning of an affective responsive. According to Adewole, part of the long term response is to establish an inter-ministerial committee to deliver a final blow on Lassa fever and other related diseases. The committee comprised the ministers of Education, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Environment, Information and Culture as well as Health. Adewole advised communities to improve on their hygiene, including food hygiene and food protection practices.

He also urged the public to avoid contact with rodents and rats as well as food contaminated with rat’s secretions and excretions. “Avoid drying food in the open and along roadsides, it is also important to cover all foods to prevent rodents contamination,’’ he said.The minister said affected states have been advised to intensify awareness creation on the signs and symptoms of the disease. According to him, the affected states are Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo, Plateau, Gombe and Oyo.

“The public is hereby assured that government and other stakeholders are working tirelessly to address the outbreak and bring it to timely end,’’ said the minister. He said the ministry had ordered for the immediate release of adequate quantities of “ribavirin’’, the specific antiviral drug for Lassa fever, to the affected states for prompt treatment of cases. Adewole said Nigeria has the capability to diagnose Lassa fever, adding that “all the cases reported so far were confirmed by our laboratories’’.

It is recalled that the first case of the current outbreak was reported from Bauchi in November 2015.

Source: Leadership Online