By Darlington Onedibe
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has revealed that Lassa fever has claimed 214 lives across the country, driving the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) up to a worrisome 25%.
According to the latest Lassa Fever Situation Report for Week 23 (covering June 1 to June 7), the current death rate marks a sharp increase from the 18.9% recorded during the same period in the previous year. The data underscores the growing severity of the outbreak despite active intervention measures.
The NCDC disclosed that the virus has systematically spread across 23 states and 109 Local Government Areas since the start of the year.
The disease burden remains highly concentrated, with just five states accounting for 84% of all confirmed infections. Ondo State has 28% of cases, followed by Bauchi State with 25% of cases, Taraba State 15% of cases, Edo State 10% and Benue State: 6% of cases.
The remaining 16% of confirmed cases are distributed across 18 other states. Notably, new infections reported during the week were concentrated in Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, and Ebonyi states.
Demographic data from the NCDC indicates that young adults continue to bear the brunt of the outbreak. The most affected demographic falls within the 21 to 30 years age bracket. While patient ages range widely from 1 to 93 years, the median age of infected individuals stands at 30.
”The National Lassa Fever Multi-Partner, Multi-Sectoral Incident Management System (IMS) remains activated and is actively coordinating response activities at the federal, state, and local government levels,” the NCDC stated.
Health officials have renewed calls for strict public hygiene and environmental sanitation, urging citizens to block all rodent entry points and keep food items securely stored to prevent contamination.
