•Spreads to 10 out 16 LGAs

The Taraba State Ministry of Health has disclosed that the death toll of Lassa fever in the state has risen to 38.

The Director of Public Health in the Ministry, Dr. Abe Agbu, who disclosed the casualty figure in a telephone interview with THISDAY equally revealed there are confirmed cases of the deadly ailment in 10 out of the 16 local government areas of the state.

Dr. Agbu further disclosed that there were 181 suspected Lassa fever cases in the state out of which 76 were confirmed positive while 38 out of the 76 confirmed positive cases, which represents 50% case fatality rake.

The 10 local government areas so far affected by the outbreak, according to the director, are Bali, Ardo Kola; Donga; Gashaka,Gassol and Ibi.

Other local government areas with positive cases are Jalingo, Lau, Takum and Wukari.

Dr. Agbu expressed strong conviction that there is the possibility that Lassa fever may be present in the remaining 6 local government areas.

Specifically, Dr. Agbu stated that there are 33 suspected cases in the past week out of which 10 were positive while 4 deaths were also recorded within the week.

THISDAY however gathered that the mortality rate of confirmed positive pregnant women has been 100% so far as none of them survived.

Dr. Agbu however attributed the high mortality among confirmed positive pregnant women to the peculiar nature of pregnant women saying “pregnancy is also a burden and when Lassa fever now enter, they don’t usually survive.”

Meanwhile, there are palpable fears among health practitioners in the state over the increasing rate of positive cases and death in the state.

Some of the Doctors and Nurses who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity lamented the lack of electricity and water at the Federal Medical Centre which according to them is affecting their services and exposing them to preventable hazards.