Lassa Fever: Ebonyi Govt. restates commitment to protect citizens

The Ebonyi Government said on Thursday that it would continue to take proactive and preventive measures to protect the residents of the state against Lassa Fever virus ravaging parts of the country.

Mr Uchenna Orji, the Ebonyi Commissioner for Information and Orientation, gave the assurance in Abakaliki while interacting with a team from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Orji said that the biggest Virology Centre in the South-East and one of the best in the country was built by Gov. Dave Umahi, to tackle the outbreak of Lassa Fever and other viral diseases.

The commissioner decried the number of deaths arising from Lassa Fever recently in the country and called for concerted efforts to tackle the scourge.

He also called on the Federal Government (FG) and the CDC to provide financial interventions to the communities and homes that had been affected by the disease in the state.

He appealed to the Director-General of the centre to treat those that had been affected by the disease as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and expedite action to forestall further outbreak.

In Dec. 2019, Gov. Umahi ordered the closure of St. Vincent Hospital at Igbagu community in Izzi Local Government Area of the state following a suspected outbreak of Lassa Fever there.