106 cases of Lassa fever and eight deaths have been recorded in Ondo state so far in 2023.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Health, Francis Faduyile, disclosed this in an interview on Sunday in Akure.
“Between January 1 and January 23, we have had 268 suspected cases of Lassa Fever, 106 confirmed cases and unfortunately eight deaths,” Faduyile said.
Faduyile said the confirmed cases were in six local governments of Owo, Akure North, Akure South, Ose, Akoko South-West, and Idanre.
According to him, Owo has the highest cases of 68, Akure North (13), Akure South (11), Ose(9), Akoko South-West(5) and Idanre (1).
He explained that the prevalent period of the disease was during the dry season and part of the rainy season when farmers were cultivating lands for farming.
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“The farmers during this period will do a lot of bush burning and when they burn the bush, the rats will move from their natural habitat to a safer place and a lot of them tend to come towards homes in that surrounding.
“The first way to prevent Lassa is to stop bush burning, and we have sensitised against this,” he said.
Faduyile also advised people not to put their food where it can be exposed to rats.
“We have observed that some of our cultural activities like spreading cassava on the road to dry are harmful because rats can come around, eat out of the cassava and drop faeces or urine on it.
“Besides, we have observed that our level of hygiene, if it is not well improved, can attract rats, because rats are scavengers and when there is uneaten food that is not covered, they tend to come,” he said.
