The death toll due to Lassa fever in Nigeria in 2022 till now has risen to 164 amid government measures to lessen infections around the nation, said the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday, July 29.
The NCDC stated in its recent Lassa fever situation report that there had been 857 confirmed cases in the country, with 5,890 suspected cases since the start of 2022.
With the 164 deaths reported so far, the NCDC stated that the case fatality rate lessened from 19.8% last month to 19.1% in July. The current case fatality rate is lesser than the 23.7% recorded in a similar period in 2021.
So far, 24 states have reported at least one confirmed case of the disease, around 99 of the 774 local government areas in the most populated African nation.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), Lassa fever disease is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused due to the Lassa virus, which is a member of the arenavirus family. Humans become infected with the Lassa virus usually via the exposure to food or household items contaminated with faeces or urine of infected Mastomys rats. The disease is endemic in the rodent populous parts of West Africa.
In some parts, Lassa fever has the same symptoms as malaria, which appears between one to three weeks after exposure to the virus.
The disease causes fatigue, fever, weakness, and headache in mild cases.
The NCDC stated that it stayed determined in supporting state public health teams to get the objective of lessening the Lassa fever case fatality rate to a single digit.
The disease control agency stated that it is presently distributing medical response commodities to states as well as treatment centres as a part of actions to prevent the spread of the disease in Nigeria.
#LassaFever remains a major public health challenge in Nigeria.
This year, we have recorded 857 confirmed cases across 24 States.
Stay updated with our weekly #LassaFever situation report: https://t.co/bJgujjVUGH#LassaFeverInfo pic.twitter.com/kGSHxKo2ns
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) July 29, 2022
