54-year-old woman dies as Lassa fever hits A’Ibom

Akwa Ibom State government has confirmed the outbreak of Lassa fever in the state with the disease claiming a 54-year-old woman.

Dominic Ukpong, Commissioner for Health, who made this known in Uyo, the state capital, while speaking on a radio programme, said two suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported in the state, adding that samples were sent to Irrua in Edo State for confirmation.

According to him, while one of the samples was negative, the other was positive, which he said resulted in the death of the woman.

The commissioner revealed that the negative result was first reported to the Federal Government during the national emergency meeting on health, adding that by the time the result of the second sample came in as positive, the woman had already died.

“As at last night, the second result came as positive and the patient has already died,’’ he said.

Ukpong who said the state government had adopted measures to check the spread of the disease advised the people to avoid contact with rats while keeping their environment clean.