Tension As Lassa Fever Spreads Sorrow Across 16 States
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, between February 26 and March 3, a period of one week, it has recorded 20 deaths and 109 cases of lassa fever in 16 states
Joy Kalu 
Lassa fever has claimed numerous lives in Nigeria, with over a hundred cases identified across 16 states, according to the latest reports.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) reported that, within the week of February 26 to March 3, there were 20 deaths and 109 new cases of Lassa fever across 16 states.
Despite ongoing efforts, the country continues to report new infections and fatalities. The NCDC highlighted that the most affected age group is 31 to 40 years old, with a male-to-female ratio of confirmed cases being approximately 1:0.9.
To coordinate a comprehensive response, the National Lassa Fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral incident management system has been activated and is operational at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).
The states currently impacted include Ondo, Bauchi, Edo, Benue, Ebonyi, Kogi, Kaduna, Taraba, Enugu, Delta, Jigawa, Adamawa, Anambra, Rivers, Ogun, and Oyo. The NCDC’s data reveals that 62 percent of all confirmed cases originate from Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi, with the remaining 38 percent spread across the other mentioned states.
An increase in confirmed cases was observed in the ninth week of 2024, rising from 96 cases in the eighth week, as detailed on the NCDC’s official website.
“Cumulatively, the report shows that from weeks one to nine, Nigeria recorded 682 confirmed cases and 128 deaths with a case fatality rate, CFR, of 18.8 percent, which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2023, at 16.1 percent,” said NCDC.
March 6, the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Jalingo, Taraba State, said no fewer than 19 persons were confirmed killed by lassa fever between January and February this year.
The state Commissioner for Health, Gbangsheya Buma, who confirmed the outbreak of the disease to journalists, said the state Ministry of Health was closely monitoring the situation, and working in collaboration with the NCDC and FMC Jalingo authorities to contain the spread of the disease.
“It is not a surprising thing; this is the season and we have made preparations. Though the outbreak may be overwhelming, I just received support from the NCDC. They have sent some people here to provide technical support with the aim of stopping the progress of the disease.
“We are actually on top of it. We have provided support as a state to the FMC to provide free treatment to patients of Lassa fever.
Eight of the nine blood samples from suspected cases collected from the FMC Jalingo as of last Friday have been confirmed for Lassa fever,” Buma said.
