Four dead in Benue treating Lassa fever without proper protection

Benue's Health Commissioner confirmed today: four healthcare workers have died treating Lassa fever patients.

60+ suspected cases. 11 confirmed. 4 dead doctors and nurses.

Across Nigeria, 15 healthcare workers infected, 2 dead as of Epidemiological Week 7. We're only in Week 7 of the outbreak season.

This is the pattern: doctors and nurses work without adequate protective equipment, contract the diseases they're treating, and die.

Between January-March 2025, Lassa fever killed 118 people with 18.3% fatality rate. Healthcare workers are supposed to save lives, not become casualties of government neglect.

When those treating the sick start dying because government didn't provide basic safety equipment, the entire health system is failing.

Punch reported the Benue deaths today. NCDC raised the alarm yesterday about healthcare worker infections. Connect it to US troops: both reveal the same institutional incapacity to protect people — whether from armed bandits or viral hemorrhagic fever.

What this means for someone who isn't a healthcare worker: when medical staff die treating outbreaks, who's left to treat you when you get sick?