No fewer than 12 people have died from Lassa fever in Ondo State, with 112 confirmed cases and 353 reported infections, the state government has disclosed.

The Acting Statistician-General of Ondo State, Olusola Ajayi, revealed this on Tuesday in Akure while addressing workers of the Ondo State Waste Management Authority.

Ajayi urged the agency to collaborate with health stakeholders to ensure a cleaner environment and help curb the spread of the disease.

?We are all in this together, and we must act fast. As of today, Ondo State has recorded 353 cases of Lassa fever, with 112 confirmed cases and 12 deaths. If we want to take action, the time is now,? he said

Similarly, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Health, Dr. Adeniran Ikuomola, recently confirmed that Ondo had recorded close to 400 suspected cases since the latest outbreak.

Speaking in Akure during the unveiling of a new Lassa fever diagnostic centre, Ikuomola said the Federal Government, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria had donated the facility to boost detection and treatment efforts.

He assured that the state government was working round the clock to ensure the laboratory?s functionality and enhance collaboration with relevant agencies to reduce fatalities.

He said, ?We have inspected the equipment provided by the Federal Ministry of Health, through NCDC and facilitated by IHVN. With this, we expect to improve case detection and management significantly.

?As of last week, we had over 400 suspected cases and more than 100 confirmed cases. While there have been fatalities, the state government is making efforts to reduce deaths from Lassa fever.? (The PUNCH)