Nigerian officials struggle to contain outbreak of deadly rodent-transmitted disease
A FULL-SCALE war has been declared on a plague of deadly rats after 76 people were killed by the disease-ravaged rodents.
Express.co.uk
Tue, Jan 26, 2016
Health officials are blaming an outbreak of deadly Lassa fever on swarms of rats infesting food markets.
Lassa is an acute haemorrhagic fever caused by a virus spread in rat droppings.
The symptoms include vomiting, facial swelling and muscle fatigue but, in extreme cases, victims begin to bleed from their eyes and nose.
About 20 per cent of victims taken to hospital die.
To stop a fresh outbreak of Lassa – which medical experts say claims about 5,000 lives a year on average across Africa – a major pest-control operation is being waged across Nigeria.
The Lagos branch of the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria says it has killed at least 7,243 rats in eight major food markets since the new Lassa outbreak was detected, resulting in 200 cases with more than one in three victims dying.
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