The Lagos State Council of the Medical and Health Workers Union said it would embark on public enlightenment to discourage consumption of soaked garri in order to prevent the spread of Lassa fever.
Chairman of the union, Mr Razak Adeofalade said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said the house rats that caused Lassa Fever are mostly in contact with Nigerian most staple food garri, a cassava product.
“We are going to encourage members of the public to depart from the process of drinking gari at this moment, it is better that the cassava flour is utilised for `eba,’ because of the use of hot water. We are waging total war and that is:
`War against Rats,’ and that is what we are going to do to ensure we do not have another victim of Lassa Fever in the state.
“We will also be telling them to ensure that their fruits and raw vegetables are properly washed if they must be consumed raw and cook to the appropriate temperature. The whole essence is to enlighten our people because education carries a lot of weight in this whole activity,’’ he said.
He also called for the adaptation of best practices for food storage to prevent epidemic.
He said the union is determined to wage war against rat in the state and public enlightenment on fighting epidemic, adding members of the union are in hospitals across the state and local governments, and would be mobilised to start enlightenment on the evil of rodents.
“We will go into premises, market place and teach them on the best practice of storing of food items from contacts with rodents,’’ he said.
He said the union will be working in collaboration with the Environmental Health Officers to reach out to the grass-roots.
