The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control, NCDC has announced that it has recorded 1631 suspected cases of the Lassa fever, 358 confirmed cases and 59 confirmed deaths as at week 6 of its Lassa Fever Situation Report in 2022.
The NCDC made the disclosure after the UK Health Security Agency confirmed last week that a patient died of the fever.
The UK Government had confirmed 3 cases of Lassa fever, with at least one casualty, while all three cases were linked to recent travel in West Africa as Bloomberg reported that many frontline workers at the hospital were reportedly told to isolate themselves after being identified as potential contacts.
According to the NCDC, the report is from Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Taraba, Enugu, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and the Niger States and the FCT.
It added that cumulatively from week 1 to week 6, 59 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 16.5% which is lower than the case fatality rate for the same period in 2021 (22.9%)
“19 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 65 local government areas,” it said, adding that of all confirmed cases, 73% are from Ondo (32%), Edo (23%), and Bauchi (18%).
“Seven new healthcare workers affected from Bauchi, Ondo and Edo states in the reporting week 6,” it stated, adding that the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Coordination Centre was activated to coordinate response activities at all levels.