Lassa fever: Ahmadiyya Hospital at Ojokoro-Ijaiye in Lagos under surveillance

The Ahmadiyya Hospital at Ojokoro-Ijaiye, Lagos has been put under surveillance by the state government after it became clear that ‎the Lassa fever index case in Lagos Ahmed Fasasi was first treated there. 

‎The Lagos state government said the facility which a private hospital will be sealed until further notice.

More than 40 fatality have been confirmed nationwide in the latest outbreak of the deadly  fever.

Also, the 15 in-patients at the Ahmadiyya Hospital as well as 25 health workers are to be monitored for 21 days, the Lagos state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris told newsmen on Saturday.

However, the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), Prof Chris Bode has assured that all hands are on deck to ensure that the disease was contained.

 Speaking on the first case in Lagos in the latest outbreak confirmed on Friday, the LUTH boss said, "We have learned a lot of lessons from the previous Ebola outbreak, and we are just layering what is to be done on what has been learned before. The state government did not disband the various response teams so they have been reactivated along with the toll-free lines."

Fasasi, a student of the Ahmadu Bello is said to have travelled to Lagos from Zaria, Kaduna state and took ill. He was first taken to the private hospital before he was referred to LUTH where Lassa fever was confirmed on Friday.

“This outbreak of Lassa fever will be quickly contained like we did Ebola. If we can beat Ebola, we can beat Lassa fever. We have a plan of action rolled out to treat anybody that comes down with Lassa fever. This disease is of importance to us at LUTH because such diseases often have fatalities in the hospital among the hospital staff and medical personnel," Prof Bode said.

“The National Centres for Disease Control, NCDC, Federal Ministry of Health and others are highly responsive to the situation and in provision of the logistics. There is a lot of collaboration with the state, and all the General Hospitals are well prepared, sensitised, and on red alert, and if any hospital is overwhelmed there will be others to go to.”