11 more killed as Lassa fever death toll rises to 132

At least 11 more deaths have been recorded in the current outbreak of Lassa fever in the country.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) made this known in its weekly situation update.

According to NCDC, the new deaths were recorded between February 24 and March 1, bringing the total number of deaths to 132.

It added that there were 85 new confirmed cases within the period under review, making the overall confirmed cases across the country to 775.

It, however, added that the number of new confirmed cases within the period decreased from 102 cases that was recorded in week eight to 85 cases.

“In week 09, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 102 cases in week 08, 2020 to 85 cases,” it said.

“These were reported from 9 states; Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Taraba and Kebbi.

“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 09, 2020, 132 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.0% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2019 (22.1%).”

The agency added that a total of 27 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 118 local government areas.

“Of all confirmed cases, 73% are from Edo (34%), Ondo (32%) and Ebonyi (7%) states,” it said.

“One new health care worker was affected in Edo state in the reporting week 09.”