Lassa fever death toll hits 102 — and 510 cases confirmed

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says a total of 102 persons died of Lassa fever in 2021.

Lassa fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic disease, is transmitted to humans through contact with food, household items contaminated by infected rodents or contaminated persons.

In the last Lassa fever situation report, the NCDC confirmed a total of 99 deaths across 17 states.

According to the latest report, 4,654 suspected cases of Lassa fever have been recorded — with 510 confirmed cases in 17 states.

The states affected include Edo (212), Ondo (175), Bauchi (39), Taraba (22), Ebonyi (18), Plateau (9), Benue (8), Kaduna (8), Enugu (5), Nasarawa (3), Kogi (3), FCT (3), Cross River (1),  Imo (1), Anambra (1), Delta (1), and Abia (1).

The agency said in week 52 (December 27 -January 2), the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 29 in week 51 to 28 cases.

“These were reported from Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Kaduna and Taraba States and the FCT,” the report reads.

“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 52, 2021, 102 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 20.0% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2020 (20.7%)

“In total for 2021, 17 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 68 Local Government Areas.

“Of all confirmed cases, 84% are from Edo (42%), Ondo (34%) and Bauchi (8%) States.

“The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (Range: <1 to 70 years, Median Age: 29 years). The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.9.

“The number of suspected cases has decreased compared to that reported for the same period in 2020.

“No new health care workers affected in the reporting week 52.”