The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that the country recorded 13 new cases of Lassa fever from four states – Ondo, Edo, Plateau, and Anambra, in one week (between July 4 to 10).
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of Lassa fever since the beginning of the year to 842 as of July 10, 2022, with a total number of suspected cases being 5,649, and sadly, 160 deaths.
It further revealed that of all confirmed cases, 69 per cent were from Ondo (30 per cent), Edo (25 per cent), and Bauchi (14 per cent) states.
The report said: “In week 27 (July 4 to 10), the number of new confirmed cases increased from nine in week 26, 2022 to 13 cases. These were reported from Ondo, Edo, Plateau and Anambra States.
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 27, 2022, 160 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 19.0 per cent which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (23.7 per cent).
“In total for 2022, 24 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 99 Local Government Areas. 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 workers were affected in the reporting week 27.
“National Lassa Fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels.”