A confirmed case in a community requires prompt isolation of affected patients, good infection prevention and control practices, and rigorous contact tracing to stop outbreaks. This study depicts the highlights of the Ekiti state’s response to its first confirmed Lassa fever outbreak. The approach used was a coordinated, and integrated rapid implementation of Lassa control measures using multidisciplinary teams. After with approproprate political will, Emmergency funds were rapidly mobilized. Seven response teams were constituted to mount an effective and high quality response. The Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and incident management system was activated to effectively coordinate the response. Clinical, epidemiological, laboratory data, surveillance records and hospital statistics were analyzed during the outbreak. Daily situation reports of the response activities were disseminated to all stakeholders. Throughout the outbreak, the state recorded one confirmed case and nine suspected cases. Their age ranges from 17 years to 53 years with the median age of 25 years. Seventy (70%) of the cases were males. The state recorded 2 deaths during the outbreak but all had negative Laboratory results. The 10 cases were detected from four LGAs across the state. Seventy percent of the cases presented with acute fever (>38°C) while 60% presented with bleeding tendencies. Other major symptoms and signs that were common among the cases were sore throat and severe headache, and generalized weakness and muscle pain. The lessons learned support the significance of intersectorial collaboration and political will in response to outbreak at the provincial or state. However, challenges to control efforts included inadequate local laboratory capacity and fear among health workers, panic response among the general populace as well as deficient emergency preparedness.
Published in | Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 2) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11 |
Page(s) | 11-18 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Lassa Fever, Ekiti State, Outbreak Response
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APA Style
Aduayi Victor Adovi, Ibikunle Oluwafunmilayo, Fashola Adebayo Matthew, Yusuf Musah, Odu Olusola, et al. (2017). Lassa Fever Outbreak in Southwestern Nigeria: The Ekiti State Response amidst Economic Recession. Central African Journal of Public Health, 3(2), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11
ACS Style
Aduayi Victor Adovi; Ibikunle Oluwafunmilayo; Fashola Adebayo Matthew; Yusuf Musah; Odu Olusola, et al. Lassa Fever Outbreak in Southwestern Nigeria: The Ekiti State Response amidst Economic Recession. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2017, 3(2), 11-18. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11
AMA Style
Aduayi Victor Adovi, Ibikunle Oluwafunmilayo, Fashola Adebayo Matthew, Yusuf Musah, Odu Olusola, et al. Lassa Fever Outbreak in Southwestern Nigeria: The Ekiti State Response amidst Economic Recession. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2017;3(2):11-18. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11
@article{10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11, author = {Aduayi Victor Adovi and Ibikunle Oluwafunmilayo and Fashola Adebayo Matthew and Yusuf Musah and Odu Olusola and Oluwafemi Omoniyi Stephen and Olomojobi Folakemi and Ojo Simeon Olurotimi and Omole Ayotunde and Onwu Victor and Bamidele Oni}, title = {Lassa Fever Outbreak in Southwestern Nigeria: The Ekiti State Response amidst Economic Recession}, journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health}, volume = {3}, number = {2}, pages = {11-18}, doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20170302.11}, abstract = {A confirmed case in a community requires prompt isolation of affected patients, good infection prevention and control practices, and rigorous contact tracing to stop outbreaks. This study depicts the highlights of the Ekiti state’s response to its first confirmed Lassa fever outbreak. The approach used was a coordinated, and integrated rapid implementation of Lassa control measures using multidisciplinary teams. After with approproprate political will, Emmergency funds were rapidly mobilized. Seven response teams were constituted to mount an effective and high quality response. The Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and incident management system was activated to effectively coordinate the response. Clinical, epidemiological, laboratory data, surveillance records and hospital statistics were analyzed during the outbreak. Daily situation reports of the response activities were disseminated to all stakeholders. Throughout the outbreak, the state recorded one confirmed case and nine suspected cases. Their age ranges from 17 years to 53 years with the median age of 25 years. Seventy (70%) of the cases were males. The state recorded 2 deaths during the outbreak but all had negative Laboratory results. The 10 cases were detected from four LGAs across the state. Seventy percent of the cases presented with acute fever (>38°C) while 60% presented with bleeding tendencies. Other major symptoms and signs that were common among the cases were sore throat and severe headache, and generalized weakness and muscle pain. The lessons learned support the significance of intersectorial collaboration and political will in response to outbreak at the provincial or state. However, challenges to control efforts included inadequate local laboratory capacity and fear among health workers, panic response among the general populace as well as deficient emergency preparedness.}, year = {2017} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Lassa Fever Outbreak in Southwestern Nigeria: The Ekiti State Response amidst Economic Recession AU - Aduayi Victor Adovi AU - Ibikunle Oluwafunmilayo AU - Fashola Adebayo Matthew AU - Yusuf Musah AU - Odu Olusola AU - Oluwafemi Omoniyi Stephen AU - Olomojobi Folakemi AU - Ojo Simeon Olurotimi AU - Omole Ayotunde AU - Onwu Victor AU - Bamidele Oni Y1 - 2017/03/21 PY - 2017 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11 DO - 10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11 T2 - Central African Journal of Public Health JF - Central African Journal of Public Health JO - Central African Journal of Public Health SP - 11 EP - 18 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-5781 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20170302.11 AB - A confirmed case in a community requires prompt isolation of affected patients, good infection prevention and control practices, and rigorous contact tracing to stop outbreaks. This study depicts the highlights of the Ekiti state’s response to its first confirmed Lassa fever outbreak. The approach used was a coordinated, and integrated rapid implementation of Lassa control measures using multidisciplinary teams. After with approproprate political will, Emmergency funds were rapidly mobilized. Seven response teams were constituted to mount an effective and high quality response. The Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and incident management system was activated to effectively coordinate the response. Clinical, epidemiological, laboratory data, surveillance records and hospital statistics were analyzed during the outbreak. Daily situation reports of the response activities were disseminated to all stakeholders. Throughout the outbreak, the state recorded one confirmed case and nine suspected cases. Their age ranges from 17 years to 53 years with the median age of 25 years. Seventy (70%) of the cases were males. The state recorded 2 deaths during the outbreak but all had negative Laboratory results. The 10 cases were detected from four LGAs across the state. Seventy percent of the cases presented with acute fever (>38°C) while 60% presented with bleeding tendencies. Other major symptoms and signs that were common among the cases were sore throat and severe headache, and generalized weakness and muscle pain. The lessons learned support the significance of intersectorial collaboration and political will in response to outbreak at the provincial or state. However, challenges to control efforts included inadequate local laboratory capacity and fear among health workers, panic response among the general populace as well as deficient emergency preparedness. VL - 3 IS - 2 ER -