TACKLING CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC AND LASSA FEVER IN NIGERIA

While Lassa fever has been endemic in the country, it has witnessed annual outbreaks consistently in the last five years. Of course you cannot compare coronavirus with Lassa fever but Lassa has been with us for decades and should be dealt with seriously. Coronavirus got the traction it got because of many factors, including the fact that it started in the advanced societies and spread like wild fire, killing thousands within a short period to the extent that it has grounded the world.
Nigeria is dealing with double deadly diseases of coronavirus and lassa faver. It is a double deadly pandemic for Nigeria. Lassa fever on the left and coronavirus on the right. Coronavirus is not the only viral outbreak in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria is currently dealing with what is turning out to be the world’s largest epidemic of Lassa fever, a viral disease deadlier than coronavirus. Lassa fever is a severe viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) like Ebola and Marburg that occurs throughout the year in Nigeria and was declared an “active outbreak” by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) five weeks into 2020. The epidemic which occurs during the annual dry season (roughly November through March) has spread across half the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health and economic crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. The region’s economy is set to shrink by a record 1.6% this year—the lowest since 1970—with real per capita income falling by 3.9%. Nigeria must tackle coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and Lassa fever seriously. Lassa fever has killed at least 188 Nigerians this year 2020; with experts saying the disease has wreaked havoc since its discovery in the country 51 years ago.
• 188 citizens died in 3 months
• 963 cases in 27 states
• ‘Disease deserves more attention’
Health officials have, therefore, called for a corresponding attention to end the Lassa fever, emphasising that it is equally a deadly disease that has taken a toll on the citizens and medical practitioners over the years. It was gathered that from January this year to the first week of April, 963 people have fallen ill with the disease across 27 states of the country. Lassa fever has also killed 56 people from the last week of February when the first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) was recorded in Nigeria.
As at Tuesday, April 14, Nigeria recorded more than 405 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and 11 deaths. This is by far below the number of people infected or killed by Lassa fever within the same period. A breakdown showed that within the period, out of the 963 Lassa fever infections, the mortality rate is 19.52 per cent. On the other hand, out of the 373 cases of COVID-19 recorded, the mortality rate is 2.95 per cent.
Out of the total of 199 mortalities recorded from both Lassa fever and COVID-19 within the period, Lassa fever accounted for 94.5 per cent of the total deaths while COVID-19 accounted for 5.5 per cent of the total deaths. There are growing concerns that while attention is being paid to the coronavirus outbreak with financial interventions from the public and private sector, little or no attention is being paid to Lassa fever, which is wreaking more havoc and has been endemic since the country recorded its first case in 1969.
Lassa fever is a very serious outbreak and that Nigeria is experiencing the world’s largest outbreak of the disease. Available figures point to the fact that the fatality rate of 19. 5% of the disease is very high. “It means that for every 100 people that come in contact with Lassa fever, 20 of them die.
Lassa fever is more deadly than COVID-19 considering that while the latter has so far killed only 11 people in Nigeria, the former has killed 188 people. Tackling Lassa fever has been abandoned, probably because of the status of people mostly affected by the disease as compared to those that come down with COVID -19.
Tackling Lassa fever has been abandoned, probably because of the status of people mostly affected by the disease as compared to those that come down with COVID -19. “Lassa fever is a preventable disease but we have stopped talking about the preventive measures since COVID-19 came up. The disease is highly infectious, it spreads and it kills. So it is high time attention is paid to it because it is killing Nigerians and every life matters.”
The illness was discovered in 1969 and is named after the town in Borno State, where the first case occurred. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, apart from Nigeria, Lassa fever is endemic in parts of West Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, saying other neighbouring countries were also at risk, as the animal vector for disease is distributed throughout the region. The centre said an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 infections of Lassa fever occur annually, with approximately 5,000 deaths.

Rising cases of Lassa fever
The number of Lassa fever cases recorded from January to April 5 (three months) dwarfs the total number of cases recorded in 2019 which stood 810. Similarly, 633 cases were recorded in 2018, and 308 cases were recorded in 2017. The 188 death recorded this year also exceeded the total number recorded in 2018, which had the highest number of deaths before now at 171.
Nigeria must lead the fight against lassa fever by example by approving the purchase of sets of dialysis machines and other equipment associated with Lassa fever. Nigeria must invest in diagnostics to easily, accurately and safely test for Lassa fever as we do for malaria and HIV. Without a proper diagnosis, many people do not receive the correct treatment and that is why we see so many people with Lassa fever dying each year.” Nigeria must support in developing national prevention strategies and enhancing laboratory diagnostics for Lassa fever. He has provided new laboratory diagnosis equipment; enhance clinical management, and environmental control dedicated to the care of patients with Lassa fever
Experts have laid emphasis on:
• Setting up quarantine units in affected areas to isolate and treat patients.
• Creating contact tracing systems to find those who might have been exposed to the disease.
• Mobilizing a network of community health workers across the country to monitor the contacts.
• Repositioning and providing Ribavirin, in affected areas, including distributing personal protection equipment and other medical supplies.
• Sharing information across borders.
Nigerians were indeed jolted when the news of a fresh outbreak of Lassa fever was broken by the Federal Ministry of Health about seven weeks ago. Many were further worried at the revelation that the disease, which had spread into 12 states including Edo, Taraba, Borno, Gombe, Yobe, Plateau, Nassarawa, Ebonyi, Ondo, Rivers, Anambra and Lagos States, was being transmitted through a species of bush rats.
At the last count, the government disclosed that hospital records showed that over 40 lives had been lost to the disease which had assumed epidemic proportions with over 400 persons already infected. Edo and Taraba topped the list of states with the highest casualty figures while about 50 million Nigerians are believed to be at risk from the disease which is even killing doctors and nurses.
There are only two laboratories in the country have the capacity to screen blood for Lassa fever and these are the Irrua Specialist Hospital in Irrua, Edo State and the Central Medical Laboratory at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), though the Minister of Health said there are nine specialist centres across Nigeria where tests on Lassa fever can be done.
Inwalomhe Donald writes from Irrua, Edo State