Five new cases of Lassa fever have been reported in Ondo and Edo States in the last seven days (between August 15 to 21), which together contribute 57 percent of the disease burden in the country, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The epidemiological report from the agency obtained by The Nation showed that in total for 2022, 25 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 Local Government Areas.

The NCDC further revealed that cumulatively from week one to week 33, 2022, 168 deaths have been reported with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 18.8 percent, which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (23.3 percent).

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The agency, therefore, stated that the national Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels to curb the spread of the disease.

The NCDC said: “In week 33 (August 15 to 21) the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 9 in week 32, 2022 to 5 cases. These were reported from Ondo and Edo states.

“Of all confirmed cases, 70 percent are from Ondo (31 percent), Edo (26 percent), and Bauchi (13 percent) states. The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (range: 0 to 90 years, median age: 30 years). The male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.8.

“The number of suspected cases has increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021. No new Healthcare worker affected in the reporting week 33.”