Lassa fever: NCDC advises Plateau government to establish emergency center

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has advised the Plateau Government to create an emergency operation centre for the detection and treatment of the disease to reduce its fatality rate.

Mr Tajudeen Arowolo, the Chief Programme Officer and Epidemiologist, NCDC, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Friday.

Arowolo said that the establishment of the centre would hasten response to any outbreak of the disease

“Emergency operation centres are a powerful tool for enabling response to emergencies, whether caused by natural disasters or disease outbreaks,” he said.

The programme officer said that if the enter was established in the state, the laboratory would be able to detect early any case of Lassa fever and this would help in prompt treatment and in turn reduce cases of fatality.

He said that the core functions of the center when established would include coordination, command, communication, information management, personnel and resource allocation and tracking.

Arowolo also advised Nigerians to imbibe the culture of keeping their food and environmental clean as a means of preventing Lassa fever.

” People need to keep their food stuff in hygienic environment; food stuff should be kept in rodent proof containers and people should also inculcate the act of keeping a clean environment.“A dirty environment serves as a breeding ground for rodents such as rat which transmits the Lassa fever virus,” he cautioned.