The Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU), Lagos State Council, has warned that taking garri, local staple food from cassava, in water, can cause the dreaded Lassa fever even as its members now take it upon themselves to embark on public enlightenment on this.
Chairman of the union, Razak Adeofalade, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that house rats that caused Lassa Fever are mostly in contact with garri.
“We are going to encourage members of the public to depart from the process of drinking garri at this moment. It is better that the cassava flour is utilized 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.” [myad]
