Lassa fever kills 85 Nigerians in 6 weeks

Lassa fever killed 85 persons within the first six weeks of this year, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC),  has said.

In a situation report released yesterday, the agency said in total,  531 suspected cases had been recorded this year.

It said 20 states had so far recorded at least one confirmed case of Lassa fever across 79 local government areas.

“Cumulatively, from week 1 to week 6, 2023, 85 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 16.0% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2022 (16.5%), “ it said.

The report said all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi State;  while 26 percent were reported from six states with confirmed  Lassa fever cases. 

The report said, “Of the 74% confirmed cases, Ondo reported 36%, Edo 31% and  Bauchi 7%”.

It said the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 106 in week five  2023 to 68 cases in week six.

These were reported from Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Ebonyi, Gombe,  Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau States.

The report said the number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2022.

The NCDC said four new healthcare workers were affected in week six.

It said the  National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) had been activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels.