Kazeem Akolawole
One hundred and sixty three people have died from lassa fever in Nigeria in 2023, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said.
This was contained in a report posted on the agency’s website.
It showed that the number of new confirmed copies decreased from 8 in epi week 20, 2023 to 7 cases and these were reported from Ondo, Edo, and Taraba States.
It said seventy-two (72%) of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states (Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi) while 28% were reported from 25 states with confirmed Lassa fever cases. Of the 72 percent confirmed cases, Ondo reported 32 percent, Edo 29 percent, and Bauchi 11 percent.
The report further stated that the predominant age group affected is 21 to 30 years (Range: 1 to 93 years, Median Age: 32 years) and 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.
“No new Healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 21 as National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels,” it stated.
