AEPB urges Abuja residents not to panic over Lassa fever incidents

NAN-AE-1
Panic
By Uwumarogie Peter
Abuja, Feb. 26, 2018 (NAN)The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has advised Abuja residents not to panic, following the death of one of the two Lassa fever patients in Bwari Area Council on Thursday.
Mr Muktar Ibrahim, AEPB’s Head of Information and Outreach, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Ibrahim said that rather than panicking, the residents, like the AEPB, should take proactive steps to keep a clean environment that would keep at bay rodents, the carrier of the deadly Lassa fever virus.
He urged all Nigerians and Abuja residents, in particular, to take the issue of hygiene seriously so as to mitigate the risks of catching the disease.
“What we are doing is to control the vector — rodents, specifically the multimammate rat; we are going to control the population of rodents and reptiles in the neighbourhood on a routine basis.
“With this surge of Lassa fever cases, there have been renewed efforts by the board, not only to sensitise the people but also to imbibe the habit of cleanliness.
“We ask for support from the residents to help control the population of rodents in the city since they are the carriers of this disease,’’ he said.
“The residents should tie up their waste properly since open waste attracts rodents.
“They should also keep their houses clean and quickly report any suspected case of Lassa fever to the appropriate authorities,’’ he said.
NAN recalls that Mr Humphrey Okoroukwu, the Director of Public Health and Human Services Secretariat, FCT, on Thursday, Feb, 22, confirmed a case of Lassa fever infection in the territory.(NAN)
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Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa and Dayo Komolafe