The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that the death toll from Lassa fever has increased to 155 as of June 5, 2022.
The report stated that while three States – Ondo, Edo and Bauchi- accounted for 68 per cent of all confirmed cases, there have been 782 confirmed cases of the disease with 4,939 suspected cases.
The NCDC’s report further revealed that this year alone while a cumulative of 742 people were managed at treatment centres, 52 health workers have been affected by the disease.
As part of its efforts to control and curtail the spread of the disease, the NCDC stated that it has sent Lassa fever alert letters to States.
It said it has activated the National Emergency Operations Centre response mode Level 2 for effective multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary coordination of 2022 Lassa fever outbreak response.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. Humans usually become infected with Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats.
The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa, including Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria, but probably exists in other West African countries as well.
The NCDC said: “In week 22 (May 30 to June 5, 2022), the number of new confirmed cases increased from 3 in week 21 (May 23 to 29, 2022) to 7 cases. These were reported from Edo, Ondo, Kogi and Gombe States. Cumulatively, from week 1 to week 22, 2022, 155 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 19.8 per cent, which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (20.2 per cent)
“In total for 2022, 24 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 98 Local Government Areas.
“Of all confirmed cases, 68 per cent are from Ondo (28 per cent), Edo (25 per cent) and Bauchi (15 per cent) States. The predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 90 years, Median Age: 30 years). The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.9.
“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 22.
“National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels.”