The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 23 Lassa fever deaths between the 19th and 25th of February, across all 12 states in the country, according to Premium Times.
The NCDC revealed this in its latest situation report published on its website for the eighth week of 2024.
The report showed that the number of confirmed cases increased by 45% to 96. It was 66 as of week 7. The report also showed that six more health workers tested positive.
The report shows a worse Case Fatality Rate (CFR) than the same period (week 1 to 8) last year, indicating a 19% fatality rate this year, compared to 16% last year. As of February 25, the NCDC had recorded 108 deaths from 573 confirmed cases.
The situation report reveals that 24 states have at least one positive case across 93 local governments this year. It further shows that three states: Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi account for 64% of the confirmed cases, with the other 21 states combined accounting for the other 36%.
Edo State alone represents 26% of all confirmed cases, which is more than a quarter of all positive cases, adding that Nigerians in their 30s are more susceptible to the disease.
It also mentioned that the NCDC has activated the National Lassa Fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System to coordinate response at all levels at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).
NCDC highlighted some of its challenges in the fight against Lassa fever. Some of these include late presentation of cases leading to an increase in CFR; poor health-seeking behavior due to the exorbitant treatment cost of Lassa fever; poor environmental sanitation conditions and poor awareness, especially in high-burden communities.
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic (excessive bleeding) illness that is 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, diarrhea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and other body openings.
