Plateau State authorities have confirmed an outbreak of Lassa fever in seven local government areas, reporting 11 positive cases and four deaths since December 2025.
According to Channels TV, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Nicholas Baamlong, spoke at a press briefing on Saturday at the Ministry of Health in Jos, outlining the scale of the outbreak and the state’s response.
“We were first alerted on December 20, 2025, following a case from Quanpan Local Government Area, and immediately, we activated our incident management team,” Baamlong said, noting that initial investigations identified two confirmed cases that triggered extensive contact tracing.
He added, “At that time, we traced about 69 contacts, from which we recorded 16 suspected cases, and five were confirmed positive. This means that from December till now, we have confirmed eleven positive cases in Plateau State.”
The outbreak has led to four fatalities across major hospitals in the state, including one medical practitioner.
“Sadly, we have recorded four deaths, two at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, one at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, and one at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital. One of the deaths is a medical practitioner who attended to an infected patient. As of today, another medical doctor is also on admission and receiving treatment,” Baamlong disclosed.
Among the victims is Dr Salome Oboyi, a senior resident doctor at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, who contracted Lassa fever while caring for a patient and died within two weeks of developing symptoms.
Dr Baamlong said 109 contacts are currently under close follow-up as the state ramps up surveillance and response. “We are continuing active case searches and deploying rapid response teams to affected communities,” he said.
The affected local governments are Quanpan, Shendam, Wase, Langtang South, Jos North, Jos South, and Mangu.
The commissioner emphasised the role of public education in controlling the disease. “We are commencing active public health enlightenment. This is key so that we can address and suppress the transmission of this disease,” he said.
He further assured that treatment and protective equipment are available.
“The drugs required for treatment, including personal protective equipment, have been distributed to health facilities and are currently available at the Jos University Teaching Hospital and the Plateau Specialist Hospital,” Baamlong said.
Residents were urged to follow preventive measures and seek immediate medical attention if symptoms appear. The commissioner stressed that containing the outbreak is a collective responsibility.
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