A medical doctor at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BHUTH) in Jos has died after contracting Lassa fever while treating a patient diagnosed with the viral disease.
The doctor, Dr. Salome Oboyi, a senior resident doctor in the hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, reportedly battled the infection for nearly two weeks before she died.
Confirming the incident to journalists in Jos, the Chief Medical Director of BHUTH, Professor Stephen Anzaku, explained that Dr. Oboyi attended to a Lassa fever patient about two weeks earlier.
According to him, she treated the patient in an emergency situation and later began showing symptoms of the disease.
“She operated on the patient that came as an emergency. It was after the surgery that there was a suspicion,” Anzaku said.
He added that after she developed symptoms, Dr. Oboyi reported herself to the hospital and was immediately admitted for treatment.
Despite medical efforts and support from the Plateau State Ministry of Health, she eventually succumbed to the illness.
Professor Anzaku described the death as a painful loss, noting that the hospital had not lost a staff member in over four decades.
“We never lost a staff member here for over four decades until now. Now, we’ve lost a very dedicated and beloved doctor,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Plateau State Commissioner for Health, Nicolas Boomlang, also confirmed a fresh outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.
He disclosed that two deaths had already been recorded in Kanam and Shendam Local Government Areas in February 2026.
Boomlang said the state government, working with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), is strengthening surveillance, case management, and public awareness campaigns to contain the outbreak.
