Cross River Assembly seeks urgent intervention to curtail Lassa fever outbreak

The Cross River State House of Assembly has adopted a resolution calling on the Federal and State governments to take proactive steps towards tackling the outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.

There were reports of Lassa fever outbreak in Eja Community in Obubra Local Government Area of the Cross River State.

The Lawmakers want the state and local governments to provide potable drinking water to the affected communities to prevent outbreak of other water-born diseases like cholera as well as to promote health education to forestall resurgence of the outbreak in the future.

The House in a plenary held at the Assembly Complex, on Thursday, January 25, 2024, quickly adopted the resolution on how to tackle the situation after the member representing Obubra 1 State Constituency, Hon. Agbor Ovat Dickson presented it as a Matter of Urgent Public Interest which according to him has claimed one life.

Hon. Dickson stated that the outbreak has been confirmed by the Federal Medical Center Abakaliki, Ebonyi State and lamented the absence of health facilities to contain it.

Lending their voices, majority of the lawmakers agreed that the situation calls for immediate intervention to prevent more deaths as the disease is highly contagious.

The lawmakers added that the deadly disease prevails in areas as a result of poor environmental hygiene. They emphasized the need for sensitization to curtail its spread.

They lauded the effort of Governor Bassey Otu towards preventing the spread of the disease but called for more urgent interventions in the affected communities.

By: Archibong Emmanuel
(Snr. Reporter)