TRADERS IN AWKA CALL FOR DEEPER ENLIGHTENMENT ON LASSER FEVER AS RAT POISON DEALERS ENJOY BUSINESS
Sellers of foodstuff and chicken at Eke Awka Market have appealed to government at all levels to go into research and implement policies that will check the spread of Lassa Fever virus and other deadly diseases. The traders, who said the measure would forestall the outbreak of the diseases in the State also urged relevant authorities to set up committees that would educate people, especially traders in the market on the dangers of the Lassa Fever.
They made their feelings known when Radio Nigeria visited the market to sample their views about the disease. Lassa fever is widely believed to be transmitted by infected rats and it spreads to human beings through contact with their urine and droppings. Also it can be contracted through body fluid, blood, and vomits of infected persons.
In an interaction with one of the traders, Mr. Uche Samuel, who deals in life stock, he lamented the economic loss he had incurred in the business through attacks on his chicken by rodents. Mr. Samuel appealed to all tiers of government to take decisive steps in tackling the menace to eradicate it in the country. Speaking in the same vein, Mrs. Rose Okoye and Mrs. Eunice Onuoha called for massive supply of rat poison and drugs to eliminate the growing number of rats, especially in the market.
Another trader, who sales foodstuff, Mr. Felix Anaekwe, told Radio Nigeria that he used rat poison and other insecticides to kill some of the rats but further called for proper enlightenment on the disease and on how to apply the drugs. Radio Nigeria also captured the mood of a rat poison seller, Mr. Sunday Onuora, who was displaying his items to attract buyers. He stated that he had started enjoying a lot of patronage from people more than ever before.
Meanwhile, the Director Public Health and Disease Control in Anambra State, Mr. Uche Onyejimbe, has revealed that the Anambra State Government has already put in place Disease Surveillance Officers across the state to identify any outbreak of Lasser Fever in the twenty-one Local Government Areas of the State.
UJU UDUEZUE