Lassa Fever Death Toll Hits 151, Spreads To 26 States

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says 151 persons have been killed across 26 states by Lassa fever, OduNews reports.

In a situation report released yesterday, the NCDC said that in total, 869 confirmed cases and 4,555 suspected cases of the disease were recorded within the period.

The states include Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Kogi, Taraba, Gombe, Enugu Kano, Jigawa, Oyo and FCT, among others.

The report said, “Cumulatively from week 1 to week 14, 2023, 151 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.4% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2022 (19.3%).

“In total for 2023, 26 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 local government areas.”

It said 71 per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states: Ondo, Edo and Bauchi; while 29 per cent were reported from three states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.

The report said that the number of new confirmed cases in week 14 was 23.

The NCDC said of the 869 Lassa fever cases confirmed this year, the predominant age group affected was 21-30 years.

It said no new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 14.