Since the beginning of the year, Lassa fever has been responsible for the deaths of 181 people in 28 states. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) issued the most recent status report yesterday. According to this report, it was said that “In total for 2023, 28 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 112 local government areas.”
According to the report, there were 7,352 suspected instances documented over time, and 1 068 of those cases were confirmed.
According to the research, 75 percent of all confirmed cases of Lassa fever were reported from the states of Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi. In comparison, 25 states reported 25 percent of all confirmed cases of Lassa fever.
It was reported that one new healthcare professional had been impacted during week 37 of the investigation.
According to the research, the number of possible cases increased when compared to the number of cases recorded during the same period in 2022.
It states that the multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) for Lassa fever continues to coordinate the response actions at all levels.
In 1969, Lassa fever was discovered for the first time in the town of Lassa, located in Borno State, Nigeria.
It is a viral hemorrhagic fever that is now endemic in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa, such as Ghana, the Benin Republic, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone. Mosquitoes spread the disease.
According to the National Center for Illness Control and Prevention (NCDC), the illness is most commonly transferred from multimammate rats to people by their blood, urine, or feces.
“Human-to-human transmission of the Lassa virus is common among close contacts of confirmed cases, such as members of the same household and those working in healthcare,” It is estimated that approximately 80% of Lassa virus infections in humans are either asymptomatic or mild. However, infection in the remaining 20% of humans manifests as a febrile illness of variable severity, sometimes associated with multiple organ dysfunctions with or without bleeding. In severe cases, it can result in death.
