Lassa fever: Kano says suspected cases not confirmed yet

The Kano State Ministry of Health says it has not confirmed suspected cases of Lassa fever reported at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital on Tuesday.
Alhaji Ismail Gwammaja, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, told the News Agency of Nigeria that it was true that the ministry received the information about the suspected cases.
Gwammaja said although the cases were reported at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, the state government had jurisdiction to disclose the facts on the issue.
According to him, blood samples of the affected persons have been sent to Lagos for diagnosis and will be readily available by Wednesday afternoon.
He said: “We are surely going to hold a news conference on reception of the results tomorrow in order to keep the public informed.”
It was reported by an online media on Tuesday morning that some medical doctors had lost their lives due to suspected cases of Lassa fever, which had not been confirmed by the hospital yet.
It was said that a pregnant woman from Bauchi State, who was a carrier of the disease, underwent a caesarean session at the hospital about 20 days ago.
The media report also said that two medical doctors from the hospital died of the suspected disease at the intensive care unit of the hospital.
NAN reports that the Assistant Director Information of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Hajiya Hauwa Muhammed, also said they were awaiting official confirmation and details of the reported disease as well as deaths from the hospital management.