Lassa Fever: Nigeria Records One Death, 15 Cases in One Week

 

Nigeria has confirmed 15 new cases of Lassa fever and one death in one week across the country.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC) made this known in the latest situation report published on its website for week 13.

The report shows a decrease in the number of confirmed cases from 25 cases in week 12 to 15 cases in the reporting week, adding that the number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2023.

Cumulatively, the report shows that from week one to 13, Nigeria recorded 806 confirmed cases and 150 deaths with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.6 per cent, which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2023 (17.5 per cent).

According to the report, 25 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 125 local government areas in 2024.

It added that 62 per cent of all the confirmed cases were recorded from three states of Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi, while 38 per cent were from 24 states.

Of the 62 per cent of the confirmed cases, Ondo State accounted for 24 per cent, Edo (22 per cent), and Bauchi, 16 per cent.

It noted that no health worker was infected in the reporting week, adding that people between the ages of 31 and 40 are predominantly affected by the disease.

“The National Lassa Fever Multi-partner, Multi-sectoral Incident Management System has been activated to coordinate response at all levels at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC),” it added.

Challenges

In the report, NCDC highlighted some of its challenges in the fight against Lassa fever.

The challenges include what NCDC described as the late presentation of cases leading to increased CFR and poor health-seeking behaviour. The latter may be due to the high cost of treatment and clinical management of Lassa fever.

Others are poor environmental sanitation conditions observed in high-burden communities and poor awareness observed in high-burden communities.

Lassa Fever

Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic (excessive bleeding) illness transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated by infected rodents or contaminated persons.

Its symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and, in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and other body openings.

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