Stop eating rats to avert Lassa fever, NOA tells Benue residents

The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Tuesday called on residents of Benue State to stop the consumption of rats to avert outbreak of Lassa fever.

State Coordinator of NOA, Bitrus Audu, handed down the advice during a press conference to mark the agency’s nationwide preventive campaign on Lassa fever outbreak.

Audu said the sensitisation effort was necessary in Benue because rats are a cherished delicacy among the people, especially with the hunting season fast approaching.

“This is the season when our people consume more rats, so there is need for enlightenment. We want to educate them to stop eating rats at all and if they cannot stop it entirely, they must look out for the particular one, which carries the virus.

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“The primary hosts for the Lassa virus is the multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis), which is one of the most prevalent rodent species that is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even though the multimammate rat serves as the animal reservoir for the Lassa virus, it does not become sick as a result of the viral infection.

“Reports have shown that both the African wood mouse and the Guinea multimammate mouse can serve as reservoir host species to the Lassa virus and both are more rampant in rural regions, and less in forested and urban areas, where their presence is the likelihood of humans being infected with the Lassa virus,” he said.