Fresh Lassa fever outbreak kills at least 19 in Nigeria

   ABUJA, Jan. 22 -- At least 19 people, including a pregnant woman and two health workers, have been killed so far by the latest Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria, local officials said on Wednesday.
   About 84 cases have been recorded in the southwestern state of Ondo where 16 people were reported to have died. The spread of the acute viral hemorrhagic fever began since the beginning of the year, the state government said.
   Similarly, in Kano, a state in the northwest region of the country, there have been four cases of Lassa fever so far, with three persons dead and one quarantined, the government also said on Wednesday.
   The situation in Ondo blew open at the weekend, a state government official said, noting that a review of the situation was done on Tuesday.
   Three local government areas in Ondo have been affected by the fever so far, said Steven Fagbemi, the state epidemiologist.
   Fagbemi told reporters that cases had reached advanced stages before they were reported at the local health facilities. This development, he noted, might have caused a high number of fatalities.
   At least 47 patients are still on hospital admission and responding to treatment, while 21 persons had already been treated and discharged, he said further.
   In Kano, however, a pregnant woman, who had a caesarian session at a government teaching hospital last December, was said to be a carrier of the disease and had died.
   "Subsequent to that, one of the doctors and a health worker that carried out the caesarian session on the woman also died, while another doctor is under care at the isolation center elsewhere," said Ibrahim Tsanyawa, the Kano State commissioner for health.
   Tsanyawa told the media that the consultant, who took charge of the pregnant woman when she was moved to the intensive care unit at a local hospital had also died of the same symptoms.
   He said in order to control the situation, the government had quickly reactivated the state's isolation center, as well as a Rapid Response Team, in addition to the repositioning of drugs and consumables to prevent the further spread of the disease.
   Experts said the cost of Lassa treatment is very high.
   Lassa fever is known to be endemic in several West African countries. Recent epidemiological data show that Lassa fever usually occurs in Nigeria during the dry season between January and April.
   Human beings become infected with the Lassa virus from exposure to urine or feces of infected mastomys rats. Other than common preventive measures such as washing hands regularly, the World Health Organization has also recommended keeping cats. Xinhau