When The Healer Becomes The Patient: Benue Loses Doctor To Lassa Fever Days Before Clean Bill

Iorfa Akpen

…Benue’s countdown to “Lassa-free” just got reset.

A doctor with APIN Foundation in Konshisha LGA died Saturday, June 20, 2026, after testing positive for Lassa fever. He’d been sick for 2+ weeks. Friends flagged it, tests confirmed it, but he pushed back on hospital admission and tried home treatment first.

Dr Paul Ejeh-Ogwuche, Benue’s health commissioner, said the doctor was eventually moved to Jos University Teaching Hospital but didn’t survive. He was from Kwande LGA and buried same day following NCDC protocols.

The timing stings. Benue was 42 days into monitoring and almost ready to declare the outbreak over. One new case = clock starts again.

Health officials have kicked response mode back on: contact tracing, community sensitization, and tighter surveillance at clinics. Ebola alerts are also on their radar.

Lassa fever spreads through contact with infected rodent urine/droppings. Early hospital care improves survival, which is why doctors kept urging him to get admitted.