Oshafu Ibrahim, a male nurse at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, capital of Nasarawa, who treated the index case of Lassa fever outbreak in the state, has died of the disease. Ibrahim Adamu, chairman of the state’s rapid response task force from the ministry of health, confirmed this to NAN on Wednesday.
Adamu said the nurse died on Tuesday, having contracted the disease through the index case in December 2015. He described the death of the nurse as a colossal loss at a time when all efforts were being made to curtail the spread of the disease in the state.
Adamu called on healthcare providers not to allow the death of their colleague discourage them from carrying out their duty of saving lives. He urged the health workers to always observe the universal protection practice of hand washing and wearing of safety kits while attending to patients.
The chairman said the federal and state governments had provided adequate safety kits for health workers to check the spread of the disease. The death of the nurse brings to two, deaths caused by Lassa fever since December 2015 when the viral disease broke out in the state.
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