Lassa fever has killed 151 people across 26 states since the beginning of this year, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said.
In a situation report released yesterday, the NCDC said that in total, 869 confirmed cases and 4,555 suspected cases of the disease were recorded within the period.
The states include Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Kogi, Taraba, Gombe, Enugu, Kano, Jigawa, Oyo, and the FCT, among others.
The report said, “Cumulatively from week 1 to week 14 of 2023, 151 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.4%, which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2022 (19.3%).
“In total for 2023, 26 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 local government areas.”
It said 71 percent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states: Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi, while 29 percent were reported from three states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.
The report said that the number of new confirmed cases in week 14 was 23.
The NCDC said of the 869 Lassa fever cases confirmed this year, the predominant age group affected was 21–30 years.
It said the number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2022.
It said no new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 14.
