There were 1,038 Lassa fever cases in Nigeria between January and December 18, 2022, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The agency said between December 12 to 18, 2022, a total of ten new cases were recorded in four states: Ondo, seven; Bauchi, one; Taraba, one and Nasarawa, one.
Also, cumulatively, between January and December 18, 2022, at least 184 confirmed Lassa fever-associated deaths have been reported from 17 states.
Ondo, Edo and Ebonyi have the highest number of deaths at 54, 29 and 20.
The NCDC stated: “In week 50 (December 12 to 18), the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 13 in week 49 2022 to 10 cases.
“These were reported from Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, and Kogi States.
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 50, 2022, 183 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.6 per cent which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (20.3 per cent).
“In total for 2022, 27 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 111 Local Government Areas.
“Of all confirmed cases, 71 per cent are from Ondo (33 per cent), Edo (25 per cent), and Bauchi (13 per cent) States.
“The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 90 years, Median Age: 30 years). The male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.8.
“The number of suspected cases has increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.
“No new Healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 50
“National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by the Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses.
Humans usually become infected with the Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats.