No fewer than three healthcare officers of the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Kaduna, or NARHK, have been confirmed dead over the suspected outbreak of hemorrhagic fever, according to an internal memo on Wednesday.

“The Accident and Emergency (A&E) Dept of 44 NARHK has witnessed the loss of 3 members of staff and a patient in the last 48 hours, with some in critical condition,” said the memo signed by Brigadier-general S.O. Okoigi on Wednesday. 

The memo added, “They are suspected to have died from Acute Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF).”

The healthcare personnel presumably contracted the disease from an infected patient who came to the facility around February 11 and died later on.

The affected health facility has been closed for disinfection while samples from the “suspected contacts and deceased” were taken to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) laboratory in Kano for thorough analysis.

Infected patients have symptoms similar to malaria, including fever. But it can be worsened by pre-existing illnesses that include abnormal liver function, acute kidney failure, encephalopathy, microangiopathy, elevated D-Dimer and so on, the memo stressed. 

The NARHK has stopped accepting new cases as healthcare personnel try to contain the infection and limit its spread. 

Ribavirin injection (antiviral agent) has also been administered to suspected carriers of the disease, including persons who have had it.

“This is in addition to strict disease Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures that have been directed to be emplaced,” the memo stated, adding that “prevention remains the best approach in dealing with such outbreak since treatment options are limited against a background of high mortality often recorded as in the current case at 44 NARHK.”

The Nigerian Army did not immediately respond to requests for comments.