The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed that the number of suspected and confirmed cases of Lassa fever has increased across states in Nigeria.
The centre’s weekly situation report for week three, indicates that 24 deaths have been confirmed. The report also shows a total of 163 confirmed cases from 398 suspected cases in 2020 compared to 141 in 2019.
This week indicator shows that the number of new confirmed cases increased from 64 cases in to 81.These cases were reported from six states to include Ondo, Edo, Delta, Taraba, Plateau, and Bauchi.
According to the report, nine states recorded at least one confirmed case across 32 Local Government Areas in 2020. Of all the all confirmed cases, 89 percent are from Edo Ondo and Ebonyi states and the predominant age-group affected is 11-40 years.
The report also noted that the number of deaths has decreased as the overall case fatality rate (CFR) for 2020 is 14.7 percent, which is lower than the CFR for the same period during 2019 23.4 percent.
Godsgift Onyedinefu, Abuja
