Following the death of over 40 people
nationwide due to the dreaded lassa fever caused by rats – the Medical
and Health Workers Union, Lagos State Council yesterday embarked on a
public enlightenment to let people know that consumption of soaked garri
could cause Lassa fever.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, Razak
Adeofalade, the Chairman of the union said the house rats that caused
Lassa Fever are mostly in contact with garri which is a cassava product.
He said,
We are going to encourage members of the public to depart
from the process of drinking garri at this moment, it is better that
the cassava flour is utilised for `eba,’ because of the use of hot
water. We are waging total war and that is: `War against Rats,’ and that
is what we are going to do to ensure we do not have another victim of
Lassa Fever in the state.We will also be telling them to ensure that
their fruits and raw vegetables are properly washed if they must be
consumed raw and cook to the appropriate temperature. The whole essence
is to enlighten our people because education carries a lot of weight in
this whole activity.
