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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), has said that Lassa fever had claimed 138 lives from January till date with a 19.3 percent case fatality rate.
This is according to the NCDC latest situation report shared via its official website.
The report said the figure was a rise from the 18.0 percent recorded within the same period in 2024.
The reports also said 717 confirmed cases had been recorded as of Epi Week 18, with four new states of Ondo, Edo, Bauchi and Benue reporting cases in the current week alone.
The public health agency said while the number of new confirmed cases slightly decreased from 11 to 10 in the past week, the overall death toll remained alarming.
The report noted that 71 percent of all confirmed cases originated from three states of Ondo (30 percent), Bauchi (25 percent) and Taraba (16 percent), signaling persistent hotspots in spite of nationwide interventions.
It added that the most affected age group was between 21 and 30 years, with the male gender appearing slightly more affected than the female at 1:0.8 male-to-female ratio.
The agency, however, said that no healthcare worker was infected in the current week, though 22 healthcare workers had been affected so far this year.
The report disclosed that the NCDC had activated a multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System and deployed 10 Rapid Response Teams across the affected states.
It said that the agency had also intensified contact tracing, community sensitisation and distributed essential commodities like PPES, Ribavirin, body bags and disinfectants.
This, it said, is in collaboration with international partners, such as the WHO, MSF, CEPI and Georgetown University.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the country has conducted multiple webinars, capacity-building training and surveillance activities to combat the outbreak.
However, the public health agency noted that challenges to the responses were hampered by late presentation of cases, poor health-seeking behaviour and low awareness levels in high-burden areas.
It also said that poor environmental sanitation contributed to disease spread.
The agency continues to urge Nigerians to maintain hygiene, report symptoms early and avoid contact with rodents and their secretions.
“The public is also encouraged to follow NCDC’s advisories and utilise the toll-free line 6232 for inquiries,” it said.
Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted primarily through contact with the urine or faeces of the infected rats.
It can also spread from person to person through bodily fluids, contaminated objects or infected medical equipment.
Symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, muscle pain and in severe cases, bleeding from body openings.
