Lassa fever prevalent in Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi

TRACKING_____SEVENTY-TWO per cent of Lassa fever cases were found in three states – Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi— the National Economic council (NEC) was told on Thursday.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, told reporters after the NEC meeting: “We were also given an update on the Lassa fever that we had in the country currently. As at last month, we had about 103 cases nationwide and we recorded 13 deaths and they were in 18 states some of which are Edo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Plateau, Enugu, Gombe, Katsina, Kogi, Sokoto, Taraba, Delta, Rivers, Adamawa, Nasarawa and Lagos.

“Of all these confirmed cases, about 72 per cent of them are prevalent in Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi states. So the ministry of health and federal government are concentrating on these three major states. It is a total of 690 confirmed cases and 118 deaths.

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“We are told that it’s been well managed; there has been a drop of about 15 per cent year-on-year. It’s a seasonal disease but year-on-year there is a national drop of about 15 per cent already”.

Giving balances of the various special national accounts, Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi said the Excess Crude Account (ECA), as at February 24, stood at $71.8 million.

“On Excess Crude Account, as at February 24, 2020, the balance is $71, 813941.84.

On Stabilisation Account, as at February 24, the balance is N34,186,655,761.82. Development of Natural Resource Account, as at the same date, stands at N101,889,686,452.53.

“Update on Budget Loan Facility, the Minister informed NEC that during the months of January and February, 2020, deductions had been made from statutory allocations of the affected states”, the governor said.