Lassa Fever
No fewer than 42 people have died from Lassa fever at the Federal Medical Centre Jalingo between November 2025 and March 2026, according to hospital authorities.
The tertiary health facility, regarded as the largest hospital in Taraba State, is also grappling with an acute shortage of medical doctors as it battles the growing outbreak.
The Head of Clinical Services at the hospital, Dr. Abubakar Kirim, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, warning that the disease is increasingly claiming lives and requires urgent attention.
According to him, the facility has handled a total of 230 suspected Lassa fever cases within the period under review.
He explained that 102 of the cases were confirmed, while 95 patients were admitted to the hospital’s treatment centre. Out of those admitted, 30 patients were successfully treated and discharged.
> “We have recorded 42 mortality, few of the affected persons have absconded from the treatment center and left, the reason for absconding is when we have short of the personnel …….In the test we confirm here, in the period of waiting till when we take samples to either Bauchi or Edo, that waiting window, they get agitated and abscond,” Kirim said.
The doctor also revealed that some healthcare workers at the facility were infected while attending to patients during the outbreak.
> “Among those affected, health workers here in the FMC were not excluded, this season, about 3 health workers were effected here, we lost 1, a doctor and nurse survived, we discharge them about 3 days ago, unfortunately one of the drivers that was affected could not make it.”
Kirim further lamented the shortage of medical personnel at the hospital, stressing that the limited number of doctors is affecting the facility’s capacity to adequately manage the rising cases.
He therefore called on qualified medical doctors willing to work at the hospital to come forward for possible recruitment into the system.
The clinical services head also urged stakeholders across communities, local governments and the state to intensify awareness campaigns on prevention and early detection of Lassa fever.
He emphasized that coordinated action at the ward, local government and state levels in Taraba State would be critical in curbing the spread of the disease, which he said is increasing daily.
