By Haruna Gimba
A medical doctor (names withheld) at Shendam General Hospital in Plateau state has been infected with the deadly Lassa fever disease in the course of treating patients.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Kuden Kamshak, told newsmen that the doctor who was brought from Shendam on Saturday, is now on admission at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
“The doctor works with Shendam General Hospital, where he was treating some of the Lassa fever patients, before he himself got infected in the process. The good news is that he is responding to treatment; he is tenth confirmed case of Lassa fever in Plateau,” he said.
The commissioner said his ministry has begun the ‘contact tracing’ of people who came in contact with the doctor, so that they can keep them under surveillance to avoid further spread of the disease in that axis.
Dr. Kamshak further disclosed that out of the 10 confirmed cases, six persons have died while three have been treated and discharged.
The commissioner said that presently only 72 people out of over 200 persons were still being kept under surveillance as the rest had passed the 21-day follow up period.
