Dr Boniface Okolo, Director of Public Health, Enugu State, has advised Nigerians against consuming soaked garri to avoid contacting Lassa fever.
Okolo, in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Saturday in Enugu, said the specie of rats that cause Lassa fever are mostly in contact with Nigeria’s most popular staple food ‘garri,’ which is gotten from cassava.
According to him, when soaked garri doesn’t require boiled water, hence the danger as boiled water in ‘eva’ could go a long way to kill bacteria caused by pest or rodents in garri.
His words: “It is better than the cassava flakes called garri is used for ‘eba’, because of the use of hot water.
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“We in the state health ministry are waging total war against rodents through sensitisation, that is what we are doing to ensure we do not have victim of Lassa fever in the state.
“We are also sensitising the public to ensure that their fruits and raw vegetables are properly washed if they must be consumed raw and cook to the appropriate temperature.
“The best practices for food storage should be encouraged to prevent epidemic.
”We should always make sure that we use air-tight clean plastic containers to preserve our foodstuff to avoid Lassa fever and other diseases. “
