Healthub
Lassa fever cases hit 1025, deaths 174 – NCDC Reports
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 1,025 confirmed cases of Lassa fever out of 8,484 suspected cases between January 1 and October 6, 2024, across 28 states and 128 local government areas nationwide.
The centre also recorded 174 deaths, with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 17.0 per cent.
This information is according to the Lassa fever situation report for week 40, obtained from the NCDC on Wednesday.
According to the World Health Organisation, Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by the Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses.
Humans usually become infected with the Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated by the urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats.
The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.
Lassa fever is known to be endemic in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Nigeria, and probably exists in other West African countries as well.
“Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in healthcare settings in the absence of adequate infection prevention and control measures,” the global health body stated.
The NCDC report highlighted that, in week 40, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from nine in epidemiology week 39, 2024, to seven, with cases reported in Ondo and Edo States.
