Benue State Government has disclosed that it recorded 26 deaths from Lassa fever and some other cases of the viral disease were also documented in 2024.
This was disclosed on Monday by the Benue State Epidemiologist, Dr Msuega Asema.
He stated that three members of the same family died of suspected case of Lassa fever in the state.
Dr Asema said the incident was recorded in the Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state about two weeks ago.
According to him, the Ministry of Health and Human Services had alerted all its emergency response structures to be on the lookout for any potential infectious diseases that could undermine public health and safety.
He called on people in the state to always ensure their environment is clean and healthy.
Asema, who doubles as the Manager of the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre said both Lassa fever and Ebola virus are zoonotic acute viral diseases which have the same symptoms and are transmittable by animals to humans.
He said, “Probable death is when someone dies and samples are not collected before death; a test is not done on the patient, but when relatives come down later with such symptoms, we say it is Lassa.
“So a total of 26 deaths were recorded in 2024, 11 confirmed while others are probable deaths.
“Currently we are still grappling with the outbreak, although it has not been declared officially by the Ministry of Health and Human Services, but we have pockets of suspected cases here and there.
“Two weeks ago, we lost three members from one family in Okpokwu who died of symptoms of Lassa fever; unfortunately, samples were not collected before their death.”