The State Director of Public Health, Dr Okechukwu Ossai, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu that several diseases were wrongly presented to be malaria fever.

“People must be sure they have malaria before taking medication by going for test because several diseases are usually presented as fever,’’ he said.

Ossai urged the people to always keep their environment clean in order to avoid malaria in their homes.

He said that the state ministry of health had been fighting malaria in all the 17 local government areas of the state.

“The state health ministry had been calling on residents to keep their environment clean by draining stagnant water in order to put malaria, a disease caused by anopheles mosquitoes, at bay.

“For many years now, the Enugu State health officials had been carrying out their duties in rural and urban areas so as to make sure that good hygiene is maintained by the citizens,’’ he said.

Ossai noted that malaria thrived in dirty environment.

According to him, cleaning the surroundings is non-negotiable to rid the state of the disease.

The director added that the health ministry had been providing long insecticide nets to expectant mothers and children in order to avoid mosquitoes and malaria in their homes.

He said that environmental sanitation was a good strategy, which must continue to be promoted to discourage mosquitoes from breeding.

Ossai explained that the state health ministry had gone into partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in making the state a malaria-free environment.

He advised residents to always sleep under the long insecticide net, adding that this will help prevent the disease in their surroundings. (NAN)