Two medical doctors and a nurse with the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki , Ebonyi State, are said to have died from Lassa Fever.
Another doctor is receiving medical treatment at Irrua Specialist Hospital, Irrua, Edo State.
This was confirmed to The Next Edition by Dr. Chidi Esike, another doctor with the Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki.
The deceased are Dr. Felix Ali of the Department of Community Medicine and Dr. Abel Sunday Udo of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology.
Both were Resident Doctors with the Teaching Hospital. The Next Edition could not get the identity of the deceased nurse.
Read also: Lassa fever: 19 states affected –NCDC
According to our source, Dr. Ali had complications of lassa fever and was taken to Irrua Specialist Hospital, Irrua, where he eventually died while Dr. Udo had a few weeks back operated on a patient who was suspected to have Lassa fever.
The patient also died.
The House Officer and nurse who assisted the doctor in carrying out the surgery where rushed to Irrua Specialist Hospital where the nurse died.
The House Officer is however said to be stable.
Lamenting the lack of a Virology Centre in the hospital and the entire South East, Dr. Esike noted that the movement of samples from place to place contributed to the spread of the disease.
The doctor also urged the Federal Government to equip the Virology Centre in the state.
“We have a building which the State Government built and the Minister of Health promised to equip but that promise is yet to be fulfilled. While we ferry samples to Irrua for diagnosis, valuable time for treatment is lost and in the process the disease might spread,” he said.
