Inside FMC’s frontline Lassa fever battle
A resurgence of Lassa fever in Nigeria's Benue State has resulted in the death of a medical doctor. Health officials have activated emergency response measures and are conducting contact tracing to contain the outbreak.
Why it matters
Lassa fever remains a significant public health threat in West Africa, and the death of medical personnel highlights the risks faced by frontline healthcare workers during viral outbreaks.
A resurgence of Lassa fever in Benue State has claimed the life of a medical doctor, Dr Vitalis Tersoo Azever, following complications associated with the viral disease.
Azever, who was a staff member of APIN Public Health Initiatives (formerly AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria) in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State, died at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) in Plateau State where he had been receiving treatment.
His death threw the medical community in Benue into mourning, coming barely 48 hours after another young doctor, Dr Cedric Tyoor Kondom, also died at the same facility from bone marrow failure.
State Commissioner of Health and Human Resources, Dr Paul Ogwuche, who confirmed the new case to journalists in Makurdi on Monday, disclosed that the ministry has embarked on case and contact tracings.
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