AKURE, South-West Nigeria – Ondo State Government has said 106 cases of Lassa Fever and eight deaths have been recorded in the state this year.

Special Adviser to the governor on Health, Professor Francis Faduyile, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Akure on Sunday.

He said the confirmed cases were in six Local Government Areas of Owo, Akure North, Akure South, Ose, Akoko South-West and Idanre, respectively.

According to him, Owo has the highest cases of 68, Akure North (13), Akure South (11), Ose (9), Akoko South-West(5) and Idanre (1).

“Between January 1 and January 23, we have had 268 suspected cases of Lassa Fever, 106 confirmed cases and unfortunately eight deaths,” Faduyile said.

He explained that the prevalent period of the disease was during the dry season and part of the rainy season when farmers were cultivating farm lands.

“The farmers during this period will do a lot of bush burning and when they burn the bush, the rats will move from their natural habitat to a place safer and a lot of them tends to come towards homes in that surrounding.

“The first way to prevent Lassa is to stop bush burning, and we have sensitized against this,” he said.

He advised people not to put their food where rats can have access.

(NAN)