- 53 Lassa Fever Deaths in Same Period
By Kazeem Biriowo
Nigeria has recorded 763 (501 male, 261 female) confirmed cases of Monkeypox diseases from 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, as of January 1, 2023.
This is according to the latest epidemiological data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
Of the states with the cases of Monkeypox in the country, Lagos leads with 188 cases, followed by Abia (58), Bayelsa (45), Imo (45), Ogun (40), Ondo (40) Rivers (37), and Delta (31).
Others are: Edo (27), Anambra (25), FCT (23), Kwara (21), Nasarawa (17), Adamawa (16), Plateau (16), Kaduna (15), Cross River (12), Ebonyi (12), Akwa Ibom (12), Borno (11), Benue (10), Oyo (10), Katsina (8), Taraba (7), Kano (7), Gombe (6), Kogi (5), Osun (5), Enugu (4), Kebbi (2), Niger (1), Bauchi (1), Zamfara (1), Not specified (1), Ekiti (1), Yobe (1).
Furthermore, seven associated deaths were recorded from seven states last year, namely: Delta (1), Lagos (1), Ondo (1), Akwa Ibom (1), Kogi (1), Taraba (1), and Imo (1).
Since the re-emergence of Monkeypox in September 2017, 989 confirmed cases have been reported from 34 states and FCT.
Similarly, the NCDC data obtained by the Africa Health Report, AHR, also revealed that as of January 29, 2023, the country recorded 361 confirmed cases of Lassa fever, with 53 deaths reported from 18 states and 67 Local Government Areas (LGAs).
The NCDC said: “74 per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states (Ondo, Edo and Taraba) while 26 per cent were reported from 11 states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.
“Of the 74 per cent confirmed cases, Ondo reported 36 per cent, Edo 31 per cent, and Taraba 7 per cent. The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 93 years, Median Age: 30 years). The male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.9.
“The number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2022. One new Healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 4 (January 22 to 29, 2023).
“National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels.”
