Lassa Fever, an acute viral haemorrhagic disease, has killed at least 168 Nigerians between January and August, FIJ can report.
The 168 fatalities are the ones the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed in its weekly Lassa Fever Report. This means that the actual figure may be higher than the official figures.
The NCDC recorded some probable cases but not all citizens can report illnesses across Nigeria’s 36 states.
Source: NCDC report on X shows that 168 people died from the virus between Jan and Aug from 982 confirmed cases, making it a 17.1% death rate
The report showed that there were 982 confirmed cases from 7,973 suspected cases across 127 local government areas in 28 states. The fatality rate as of August 31 was 17.1%, which was marginally lower than the fatality rate of the same period in 2023 at 17.2%.
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ONDO, EDO AND BAUCHI ARE HOTSPOTS
The report breakdown further showed that Ondo, Edo and Bauchi states had the highest number of Lassa cases. Those three accounted for 67% of all confirmed cases in the country. 27% of Lassa fever cases were reported in Ondo, 23% in Edo and 17% in Bauchi.
The statistics also showed that people between 31 and 40 years old were predominantly affected while the gender ratio was 1:1.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the first recorded case in Nigeria happened in Borno in 1969.
Lassa fever is caused by the Lassa virus which is mostly transmitted to humans through food and household items contaminated by the faeces or urine of infected rats.
Sampson Orogwu, the Disease Surveillance Notification Officer of the Ebonyi Ministry of Health, disclosed in February that the virus killed 10 persons out of the infected 25 in the state between January 4 and February 16.
“16 out of the 25 infected persons are males, while nine are females. The dead include a pregnant woman and two children,” Orogwu said in February.
THE GOVERNMENT SAID BUSH MEAT CONSUMPTION MAKES LASSA THRIVE
In February, Yakubu Baba, the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON)’s registrar, told Nigerians to shun bush meat consumption.
During an interview with journalists, Baba said that the preparation process of bush meat does not guarantee virus-free meat.
“The virus has a residual effect, even after the death of the animal, it still remains with the animal,” Baba said.
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