The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed that 168 Nigerians have so far lost their lives to Lassa fever from January to August 14 2022.
The agency also stated that the number of new confirmed Lassa fever cases reduced from 13 in week 31, 2022, to nine cases.
The NCDC disclosed this in its weekly situation report on Lassa Fever published on Friday.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever and an acute viral illness.
The zoonotic disease has a high morbidity and mortality rate and economic and health security implications.
According to data from the week 32 report that covered August 8 to August 14, 2022, the country has 889 confirmed cases and 6,304 suspected cases of the infection across 101 Local Government Areas in 25 states.
It also disclosed that no new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week.
The report read in part, “In week 32, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 13 in week 31, 2022 to 9 cases. These were reported from Ondo, Edo, and Enugu States.
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 32, 2022, 168 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.9% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (23.4%).
“In total for 2022, 25 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 Local Government Areas.
“Of all confirmed cases, 70% are from Ondo (31%), Edo (26%), and Bauchi (13%) 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 32.”
“National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels,” the NCDC stated.
