Lassa fever strikes again: Benue doctor dies in Jos as outbreak clock resets to zero

Benue’s fight against Lassa fever just lost one of its own.

Dr Vitalis Tersoo Azever, a medical officer with APIN Public Health Initiatives in Konshisha LGA, died last Saturday at Jos University Teaching Hospital after a two-week battle with the viral disease.

He was buried the same day in his hometown, Kwande LGA.

The loss hit hard — and fast. Barely 48 hours earlier, another young doctor, Dr Cedric Tyoor Kondom, had died at the same JUTH facility from bone marrow failure.

Kondom was days away from his induction ceremony.

–“We were about to declare it over”–

State Commissioner for Health, Dr Paul Ogwuche, confirmed the death in Makurdi Monday and said the news forced Benue to restart its outbreak countdown.

“There is a fresh case of Lassa fever in the state. Only one doctor had died,” Ogwuche said. “We wanted to declare the outbreak over after 42 days before this case came up. Now we wait another 42 days.”

According to the commissioner, Azever first managed himself at home and later in a private hospital. When his condition didn’t improve, a friend suspected Lassa fever and pushed for a test. It came back positive.

The doctor reportedly resisted hospital admission at first. “When we wanted to put him on admission at BSUTH, he said no. Give me drugs and injection at home. But we said no, it wouldn’t work like that,” Ogwuche explained.

He was eventually taken to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, tested, and referred to JUTH when baseline checks showed his kidneys were already failing.

—Emergency mode, again–

With one confirmed case, Benue has reactivated emergency response teams.

Ogwuche said the ministry has launched fresh case and contact tracing, stepped up surveillance, and taken the awareness campaign back to communities, churches, mosques, and palaces.

“We are thinking of bringing people from churches and mosques to train, and even traditional rulers too, because they are in the communities,” he said. “So far, there is no other person on admission at any hospital in the state.”

—Grief in white coats—

The Moses Orshio Adasu University Medical Alumni Association declared a seven-day mourning period.

In an emergency address, MOAUMAA President Dr Msonter Anzaa said: “In the past 48 hours, death tore through our fold and made away two of us – Dr Vitalis Tersoo Azever and Dr Cedric Tyoor Kondom.”

He called the double loss “devastating to the entire Hippocratic community in Benue and beyond,” and announced that the third week of June will now be the association’s Annual Week of Remembrance for fallen colleagues.

Anzaa also pointed to “the now-too-familiar shortcomings of the nation’s healthcare system” as a factor, but urged doctors to stay united and keep pushing for reforms.

—Why this matters—

Lassa fever kills through fever, bleeding, and organ failure. With a 25% fatality rate nationally this year, early detection and isolation are everything. Azever’s case shows the danger of self-medication and delayed presentation — even for doctors.

Benue’s outbreak clock has reset. For the next 42 days, health teams will watch, trace, and test. The goal: no more names added to the list.

Protect yourself: Avoid contact with rats, store food in rodent-proof containers, report fever and bleeding and body weakness to the nearest health facility immediately. Early treatment saves lives.