Saudi authorities have threatened to block Nigerian Muslims from attending this year’s Hajj pilgrimage over fears they could spread the Lassa fever, the West African nation’s Hajj commission has said.
Since the turn of the year, the disease has killed at least 90 people in Nigeria, with more than 1,000 cases reported across the country.
Symptoms of Lassa fever can include fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, abdominal pains, sore throat and facial swelling.
The virus is passed to people who eat infected rats, or if food is contaminated by rat droppings or urine. It can also be transmitted through contact with body fluids of an infected person.
BBC news agency reports a spokesman for Nigeria’s Hajj commission, Mousa Ubandawaki, to say they are responding to the threat by holding “an expanded meeting” on Wednesday with “all officials from the 36 states, the commission and officials of the federal government to discuss the matter”.
The Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia will take place in August this year.
The pilgrimage draws millions of people from around the world to Saudi Arabia each year.
The five-day-long Hajj is required of all Muslims with the means to perform it at least once in a lifetime.
Through intense worship and repentance, its goal is remission of past sins and drawing Muslims closer to Allah.
