Sokoto State Govt Increase Surveillance To Curtail Lassa Fever

The Sokoto State Government on Wednesday said it had intensified surveillance across the state as part of efforts to curtail the spread of Lassa fever.

“Despite initial apprehension of a possible case of the deadly disease in the state, the government said three suspected cases earlier been taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Laboratory Centre for blood sample analysis.

“They all came out negative, reaffirming the zero case submission in Sokoto,” Gov. Aminu Tambuwal said in Sokoto on Wednesday.

The governor stated this when he went round hospitals in Sokoto town, as part of efforts to intensify awareness on the dangers of the scourge.

Speaking at the State Specialist Hospital, Tambuwal said all necessary precautionary measures had been put in place, while technology had been deployed to help with the surveillance of all the 23 local government areas of the state.

He said, “the monthly environmental sanitation introduced by the government has helped in the cleaning of the environment. But the residents need to do more to maintain a high level of hygiene,’’ the governor added.

Conducting the Governor round the hospitals, the Commissioner of Health, Dr Balarabe Kakale, said government had trained enough personnel to handle any possible outbreak of the scourge in the state.