By Tunde Sholanke
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reported that the country has recorded no fewer than 85 deaths from Lassa Fever in the first six weeks of 2023.
Confirming this in its latest epidemiological report, the NCDC said on Monday that the case fatality rate (CFR) was at 16.0 percent which was lower than the CFR for the same period in 2022 (16.5 percent).
It said: “So far, 20 states have recorded at least one confirmed case of Lassa Fever across 79 Local Government Areas (LGA). 74 percent of all confirmed Lassa Fever cases were reported from Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi states, while 26 percent were reported from six states with confirmed Lassa Fever cases.
“Of the 74 percent confirmed cases, Ondo led the table with 36 percent reported cases. Edo state recorded 31 percent, and Bauchi state had seven percent.”
The agency added that in week six of this year, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 106 cases recorded in week five of 2023 to 68 cases. “These cases were reported from Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Ebonyi, Gombe, Benue, Nasarawa, and Plateau States.”
It noted the predominant age group affected was 21-30 years (range: one to 93 years, median age: 31 years), while the male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases was 1:0.9.
The agency said that more suspected instances were reported than had been the case during the same time in 2022.
“Four new healthcare workers were affected at the end of the sixth week of the year, while the national Lassa Fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) had been activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels,” it added.
