BY DOYIN ADEOYE
With
the recent outbreak of Lassa fever in the country, it is important to
take note of the environment’s role in combating this threat.
The natural host of the Lassa virus are rodents, and the transmission to humans usually occurs from exposure to urine or faeces of infected rats. Lassa virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of a person infected with Lassa fever.
Between 2012 and 2013, more than 2,900 cases were reported in widespread outbreaks that occurred across many states in Nigeria.
Discouraging rats from entering homes will prevent the spread of Lassa fever, and this relies on promoting good hygiene.
Effective measures to deter rats from making their ways into the house include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households and covering of food and water properly, among other options.
Speaking at a lecture series organised by the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan (UI) recently, Professor Ade Ojeniyi, noted that there is a relationship between the spread of some diseases and the environment.
With the theme: ‘One Homo Sapiens, One Animal, One Environment, One Medicine and One Health,’ Professor Ojeniyi’s lecture elaborated some of the diseases that are transmitted from animals to man, as well as vice versa.
“No living species has had a greater impact on the environment than Homo Sapiens, yet our health is so intertwined with animal health, while the medications applied to combat infectious diseases in animals and humans are very much the same.
“The environment is the pool from which docile draw their diseases and put the disease back for interchange, from one host to the other,” he said.
The natural host of the Lassa virus are rodents, and the transmission to humans usually occurs from exposure to urine or faeces of infected rats. Lassa virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of a person infected with Lassa fever.
Between 2012 and 2013, more than 2,900 cases were reported in widespread outbreaks that occurred across many states in Nigeria.
Discouraging rats from entering homes will prevent the spread of Lassa fever, and this relies on promoting good hygiene.
Effective measures to deter rats from making their ways into the house include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households and covering of food and water properly, among other options.
Speaking at a lecture series organised by the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan (UI) recently, Professor Ade Ojeniyi, noted that there is a relationship between the spread of some diseases and the environment.
With the theme: ‘One Homo Sapiens, One Animal, One Environment, One Medicine and One Health,’ Professor Ojeniyi’s lecture elaborated some of the diseases that are transmitted from animals to man, as well as vice versa.
“No living species has had a greater impact on the environment than Homo Sapiens, yet our health is so intertwined with animal health, while the medications applied to combat infectious diseases in animals and humans are very much the same.
“The environment is the pool from which docile draw their diseases and put the disease back for interchange, from one host to the other,” he said.
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