Ondo tops list as NCDC reports 74 new Lassa fever cases in one week

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 74 new cases of Lassa fever in nine states across the country.

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

According to the NCDC’s situation report for January 17 to January 23, Ondo topped the list of states with 28 new infections, followed by Edo and Bauchi with 18 cases each.

Other states that reported new infections include Oyo (3), Ebonyi (3), Benue (1), Katsina (1), Kaduna (1), and Taraba (1).

The new infections brings the total number of cases recorded in 2022 to 170.

The agency also said 11 people across five states died from the disease in the past week.

“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 3, 2022, 32 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.8% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (25.0%),” the report reads.

“In total for 2022, 12 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 37 Local Government Areas. Of all confirmed cases, 74% are from Edo (28%), Ondo (28%) and Bauchi (23%) States.

“The predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 80 years, Median Age: 30 years). The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.9.

“The number of suspected cases has increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.

“No new healthcare worker affected in the reporting week 3.”