Death Toll Hits 118 As Lassa Fever Spreads To 27 States In Nigeria

The death toll in the current outbreak of Lassa fever has reached 118, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). 

In its latest report covering February 17 to 23, NCDC gave the number of suspected cases to be 2,633, confirmed cases, 609 and nine probable cases.

The centre said the disease has spread to 27 of the 36 states of the federation.

“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 08, 2020, 118 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.1% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2019 (21.8%),” the report read.

“In total for 2020, 27 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 115 Local Government Areas (Figure 2 and 3).

“Of all confirmed cases, 72% are from Edo (34%), Ondo (32%) and Ebonyi (7%) states. The predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years (Range: <1 to 78 years, Median Age: 33 years). The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:1.2 (Figure 4).

“The number of suspected cases has significantly increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2019.”

NCDC said four new healthcare workers were affected in Edo and Ondo states.

As parts of its control efforts, NCDC said the National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been activated to coordinate response activities across states.

NCDC said it is is working to support every state in Nigeria to identify one treatment centre, while supporting existing ones with care, treatment and infection prevention and control (IPC) commodities.