Authorities of the various universities in the country have
deployed various strategies, including the use of cats, in
order to prevent an outbreak of Lassa fever on campuses,
findings by our correspondents reveal.
From the University of Benin, Edo State; Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, Kaduna State; University of Nigeria,
Nsukka; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State;
Enugu State University of Science and Technology to the
University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the race for hunting
of rats has taken a new dimension.
Before now, many, particularly animal scientists, did not
bother about the danger of co-habiting with rodents, which
they considered as part of the ecosystem. For the majority
of the students also, provided these rodents did not eat their
books and personal belongings, they could afford to allow
them to exist on campuses.
But this situation has changed. Both the students and the
workers no longer see these common rodents as co-
partners. In fact, while some of the institutions employ the
conventional approach such as preaching the “gospel” of
cleanliness, sensitising students and members of staff to the
danger of co-habiting with rats, and fumigation, others use
the unorthodox mechanism like purchasing of cats to “de-
rat” their campuses.
Even in some schools, students have thrown aboard the idea
of indulging in their regular “drinking” of garri pastime.
That the authorities and the students now employ these
strategies is not out of place. Rats, especially the Natal
multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis), found in many
sub-Saharan Africa, are believed to be the major carrier of
Lassa fever or Lassa hemorrhagic fever. And statistics so far
show that no fewer than 60 persons have lost their lives to
the virus in Nigeria.
From Benin, the authorities of UNIBEN are not giving
anything to chance, especially with the reported death of a
final-year engineering student. The student was said to be an
occupant in Hall Three, one of the hostels on Ugbowo
campus of the university.
But the UNIBEN management, through its Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Michael Osasuyi, dismissed the speculation
about the death of a student of the university.
According to him, there is no truth in the story that a final-
year student died of the virus.
Osasuyi, who, however, said the university was carrying out
proactive measures to forestall any outbreak in the
institution, added that a committee had been set up to
sensitise members of staff and students to the dangers of
the virus.
He also hinted of plans to “de-rat the university” as part of
efforts to check the prevalence of rodents in the community.
Osasuyi added, “The vice-chancellor has mandated the
student union to organise sensitisation programmes. Before
any outbreak, the university is even proactive. The
population of student is much; so, we cannot take chances.
It is no news that we have rats everywhere.”
However, it was also learnt that the various hostels had
been fortified with cats allegedly provided by the university
management to control the number of rats within the
community.
But to escape contracting the virus, a 400-level medical
student, Eddy Uwughiren, said many students on campus
had increased their commitment to personal hygiene.
Uwughiren said, “I know that the school has organised a
seminar to enlighten students on Lassa fever. There are
school cats that kill the rats. Rats are very common in our
hostels but the cats do kill them. For me, I ensure that I
cover all my edibles well. It is the same with my roommates;
we try to maintain a high level of hygiene.”
The use of cats to prevent an outbreak of the virus is also
fashionable in ABU. It was gathered that the authorities, in
declaring war on rats, provided cats on hostels, especially
on Samaru and Kongo campuses.
The Director, Health Services of the ABU, Dr. Hauwa Nana-
Madugu, who confirmed this, however, said the university
was free of Lassa fever.
According to her, all the hostels – Amina, Suleiman,
Akenzua, Danfo-dio, ICSA/Rammat – have been provided
with cats to eliminate all rats.
Besides fumigating and clearing the surroundings, students
and members of staff, she said, had been sensitised to the
danger of the disease.
She added, “Apart from fumigating the environment,
clearing of the bushes and rats’ (reservoir), the various
hostels have been provided with cats to attack the rats. The
university has no option but to safeguard the lives of the
residents of the community.”
But students of UNICAL and the Cross River University of
Technology, Calabar, have reduced the consumption of garri
with cold water (‘soaking’) due to the fear of the virus.
Though there has not been any reported case of Lassa fever
in the state, the authorities of UNICAL have embarked on
fumigation of hostels to reduce the number of rats in the
institution.
A 400-level Human Anatomy student, Soso Jumbo, said
students had been discouraged from consuming garri
“soaked” in cold water.
He said, “We constantly get advice from the garri sellers on
campus not to soak it the usual way in cold water to avoid
contracting the virus. They have advised us to use to the hot
water version for now and that is what I do if the need
arises.”
Another student, Rosemary Johnson, said the fumigation by
the management had reduced the presence of rodents on
campus.
A 200-levels student in the Department Visual Arts,
CRUTECH, Eme Archibong, said students had jettisoned the
idea of “soaking” to avoid contracting Lassa fever.
The UNN management has also embarked on a campaign to
sensitise the students to the virus.
Its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Okwun Omaku, said the
management embarked on the campaign in order to
prevent the outbreak of the disease in the institution.
He said, “We have been sensitising the students, creating
awareness on the causes of Lassa fever and ways of
preventing it. We did a memo on that and placed it on notice
boards.
“Also, the campus radio station, Lion FM, is being used to
create the necessary awareness among the students. The
message is that they should ensure a clean environment,
maintain hygiene and keep food and foodstuffs properly
covered.”
But the Director for Public Affairs, ESUTECH, Mr. Ossy
Ugwuoti, noted that Lassa fever was not in the state.
However, some of OAU students on Monday described rats
at “co-tenants” in their halls of residence.
A student, who lives at Awo Hall, Timothy Okewale, said
many students did not consider the presence of rats as a
danger to their lives any longer because they had been living
with these rodents since they were admitted to the
university.
He said, “Rats are still around. They cannot go to anywhere
because they get food easily and I think the environment
makes them thrive.”
A resident at Mozambique Hall, who identified herself as
Tope, agreed with Okewale on the presence of rats in the
university.
She said although there had not been any recent fumigation
in her hostel, the management placed a notice at the
entrance of the hostels, advising students on the preventive
measures.
She said, “The hall has not been fumigated since the
outbreak of Lassa fever but we have plenty of rats around.
Everybody is making efforts to prevent infection.
Students of the university last November embarked on a
series of protests against the poor condition of their hostels.
However, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr.
Abiodun Olanrewaju, said there were no rats in the
university. He said the neatness of the campus made it
unattractive to rats.
He said, “There are no rats in OAU. The environment is not
conducive to them. Rats prefer to live in dirty places where
they can hide. That is not the case on our campus. The
neatness and cleanliness of the OAU does not make the
campus attractive to rats.”
A UNIPORT student, John Nnadum, said that the institution
had begun the campaign against Lassa fever since last week,
adding that lectures were organised in the institution on how
to avoid the disease.
The spokesperson for the university, Dr. William Wodi,
confirmed the contribution the authorities were making to
prevent the virus on campus.
He added that the university had trained its health workers.
However, a student of the Kenule Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic
Bori, Favour Udonkwa, said the institution had not begun
any campaign on Lassa fever.
Udonkwa, a Mass Communication student, explained that
though it was not long that the polytechnic resumed after a
long break, no campaign against Lassa fever was going on in
the institution.
The Deputy Registrar/ Head of the Information Unit, UNILAG,
Mr. Toyin Adebule, said the authorities were not giving
anything to chance. Beyond fumigation and sharing of
pamphlets to sensitise members of the community, Adebule
added, the authorities had posted all the needed
information about the virus on the university’s website.
He said, “Following the bedbug saga, we had fumigated the
hostels and other parts of the institution. Since then, we
have continued to carry out the exercise to ensure that the
environment is habitable. With the strategies put in place by
the directorate of works and health services, I do not think
the university will be caught napping with regard to Lassa
fever.”
Even UI, whose students are on vacation, is putting in place
some preventive measures. The UI Director of Health
Services, Dr. Femi Akingbola, said the school had taken
measures to ensure that no student came to the school with
the Lassa fever.
He said the school would also screen the students when they
arrived on February 13, adding that the institution needed
the support of the Oyo State Government to guide against
dumping of refuse by residents of the community outside
the campus at the school gate.
