By Sunday Apah,
Following the discovery of a case of Lassa Fever in Uvwie Kingdom, Hon. Ramson Onoyake, Executive chairman of Uvwie Local Government Council, on Thursday distributed rat poisons through his RTO Foundation to residents and market women to stem further spread of the disease in the council area.
Distributing the cups of rat poisons worth hundreds of thousands of naira at the popular Effurun market, Hon. Onoyake stated that the he was in the market to sensitize residents of Uvwie council area about strange diseases especially Lassa Fever.
Onoyake accompanied by the Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Authority, Uvwie LGA, Dr. Henry Aghogho, Supervisor for Health, Uvwie LGA, Miss Awin Atare, and other top health officials said he will also distribute rat poisons through his RTO Foundation to residents and market women to stem further spread of Lassa Fever in the area.
He said: “the rat killers will be distributed for free to all market women and residents and we must keep our environment clean in order to be free from strange diseases ravaging the world at the moment. We have been hearing of Lassa Fever outbreak outside our Local Government Area but today a case of Lassa Fever has been discovered in our council area.
“So we decided to distribute the rat killers and sensitize the public on how to stem further spread of the disease because if not discovered early it kills the affected person within hours”, he said.
Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Authority, Uvwie Local Government Area, Dr. Henry Aghogho who spoke during the programme said a case of Lassa Fever has been confirmed in the area and they are on a mission to sensitize the public on how to prevent further spread of the disease.
He explained that Lassa Fever is a viral infection caused by Lassa virus and that the virus is primarily transmitted to humans through contact with excreta from a rat with multiple breast.
According to him: “signs of the disease includes high fever, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, back pain, cough, chest pain, abdominal pain, headache, swelling of face, bleeding from body openings but can be prevented by avoiding contact with rats, keeping clean environment and among others.
Highlight of the event was the distribution of cups of rat poisons by the council chairman to residents and market women.
