MONROVIA – The Deputy Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Jeanie Macaulay has disclosed that the number of Lassa Fever cases in Liberia has tripled.
It can be recalled that in September 2019, Health authorities declared a health emergency following the outbreak of Lassa Fever which at the time had claimed 21 lives between January 1 and August 25.
Now in at least 42 days since January 1, 2020, the recorded number of Lassa Fever cases as reported in the country shows there have been 14 deaths.
Speaking to corps of reporters in Monrovia recently, Madame Macaulay named Bong, Bassa and Nimba counties as areas with continuous rise in Lassa fever incidents.
The NPHIL Deputy Director General indicated that the issue the institute is experiencing with the hospitals is some patients are not going for their treatment in a timely manner.
Macaulay said NPHIL is engaging local authorities in the three counties to ensure clean environment as one of the ways to prevent Lassa Fever.
“We were able to get the County Inspectors at various counties that we visited and they were able to mobilize the team for us to get the environment cleanliness on and going,” she emphasized.
She noted that the national team are focused on community engagements, risk assessment, case management and environment management, adding that the team also focuses on environmental peace because rats are all over in the community.
She said the team also took supplies to get the clean-up process started because lots of people complained that they do not have materials to clean the environment.
“We all know that when it comes to cleaning the environment, everyone complains that there are no hand gloves, cutlasses, hooks, among others,” she said.
She said that NPHIL also visited schools to conduct health talks and awareness on Lassa Fever prevention and transmission because a lot of people in the local communities do eat rats.
She at the same time called on every citizen to take preventive measures by keeping their environment clean and washing all kitchen utensils before using them.
Meanwhile, Liberian business people have been urged to suspend travel to China to prevent the coronavirus from entering into Liberia.
The acting Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Mosoka Fallah, said in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China, many Liberians, especially business people are applying for Chinese Visas, something he said poses serious threat to the country.
He wants Liberian business people to stop all travels to China in the main time, adding that the coronavirus is a global threat.
