Ebonyi Shuts down Schools over Lassa Fever Outbreak

The Ebonyi State government has closed down all schools in the state including public, private and missions school due to the outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.

In a statement, the state Commissioner for Education, Prof John Eke, noted that the directive was sequel to the recent development where a woman tested positive to Lassa fever.

Since the outbreak of the disease on Sunday, about three persons have been reported dead, while measures are high for contact tracing to curtail its prevalent rates.

He noted that all education institutions in the state would continue to be closed till the situation is properly arrested.

Eke said: “Sequel to the most recent development where a woman tested positive to Lassa fever, Ebonyi State Government via the Ministry of Education has directed immediate closure of all schools in the state including Public, Private and Missions Schools till Friday, January 26, 2018.This measure was adopted to properly arrest the spread of Lassa fever in the state.”

The commissioner further directed all teachers and parents to evacuate all their wards from schools without delay.