Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BASPHDA), says there were 22 deaths out of the 57 cases of Lassa fever recorded in Bauchi State in 2020.

Rilwanu stated this on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Bauchi.

He said that the agency, however, conducted decontamination exercise in 6,000 houses, markets and wells in various communities to curtail the spread of the disease.

“The preventive measure has reduced cases of Lassa with only three new ones recorded in 2021.

“We recorded 57 cases, out of which 22 died in 2020. Gov. Bala Mohammed therefore, directed that all communities with frequent outbreaks be decontaminated.

“The exercise was conducted in 6,000 houses, markets and others in various communities across the state.

“Recently we also decontaminated Toro town, in Toro Local Government Area (LGA), because one of the recent cases was from the area,” Rilwanu said.

According to him, the state is among states with the highest rate of Lassa fever infections in the country.

He called on the general public to avoid activities such as bush burning, which aids in releasing the specie of rat, known to be the carrier of the virus that often exposed humans to the dreaded disease.

Some of the affected LGAs included Bauchi, Toro, Ganjuwa and Tafawa Balewa, among others.

The Lassa fever outbreak was recorded in Bauchi State between Nov. 2019 and to May, 2020. (NAN)