Meanwhile… Nigeria’s Lassa fever death toll rises to 185

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the country has so far recorded 185 deaths from Lassa fever in 2020.

Last week, the reported death toll was 176.

In a situation report published on its website on Thursday, the centre said 27 states have recorded one case of the disease across 126 local government areas.

The NCDC said the number of infected people have risen to 951 in week 13 as against the 932 last week.

It said Edo has the highest number of cases followed by Ondo and Ebonyi states, adding that 19 new cases have been recorded.

“In week 13, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 28 cases in week 12, 2020 to 19 cases. These were reported from 8 States (Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Taraba, Plateau, Kogi, and Delta),” the report read.

“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 13, 2020, 185 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 19.5% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2019 (23.0%).

“In total for 2020, 27 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 126 Local Government Areas (Figure 2 and 3). Of all confirmed cases, 72% are from Edo (32%), Ondo (32%) and Ebonyi (8%) states.

“The number of suspected cases has significantly increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2019. No new healthcare worker were affected in the reporting week 13.”

Nigeria has been battling with Lassa fever which has now become an endemic disease. There is usually an outbreak at least once a year.

Apart from the fever, the country is also taking steps to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Nigeria has so far recorded 174 cases and two deaths.