A new report issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) seems to suggest that the country is turning the corner on the scourge of Lassa fever as it has recorded the lowest number of cases in the last seven days since the beginning of the outbreak.
After more than 100 deaths and almost 416+ confirmed infections, Nigeria in April recorded a sharp decline in the spread of Lassa fever.
“Only one new confirmed case with no new death of Lassa fever was reported in the Edo state in the reporting Week 16 (April 16-22, 2018).
“This is the lowest weekly case count since the first week of January 2018,” the NCDC said in its situation report released Tuesday.
The report stated that from 1st January to 22nd April 2018, a total of 1865 suspected cases have been reported from 21 states. Of these, 416+ were confirmed positive, 9 are probable, 1439 are negative (not a case) and 1 are awaiting laboratory results (pending).
This year’s epidemic is Nigeria’s largest on record, with confirmed cases in January and February alone exceeding the total number reported in the whole of 2017.
“Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 105 deaths in confirmed cases, 9 in probable cases. Case Fatality Rate in confirmed cases is 25.2 per cent,” say the report.
Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness, transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated by infected rodents. Person-to-person transmission can also occur, particularly in hospital environment in the absence of adequate infection control measures.
The agency further disclosed that at least one confirmed case have been recorded in Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Imo, Plateau, Lagos, Taraba, Delta, Osun, Rivers, FCT, Gombe, Ekiti, Kaduna, Abia and Adamawa making it twenty – one states across 70 Local Government Areas.
“In the reporting week 16, one new healthcare worker was infected in a private health facility in Edo state.” Thirty-seven health care workers have been affected since the onset of the outbreak in eight states Ebonyi (sixteen ), Edo (twelve ), Ondo (three ), Kogi (two), Benue (one), Nasarawa (one), Taraba (one), and Abia (one ) with eight deaths in Ebonyi (six ), Kogi (one ) and Abia (one ).
“81 per cent of all confirmed cases are from Edo (42 per cent) Ondo (23 per cent) and Ebonyi (16 per cent) states; and that three cases are currently being managed in treatment centres in Edo state. The lowest since the beginning of the outbreak,” say the report.
The agency noted that a total of 4906 contacts have been identified from 21 states. Of these 420 (8.6 per cent) are currently being followed up, 4476 (91.2 per cent) have completed 21 days follow up while 7(0.2 per cent) were lost follow up. 78 symptomatic contacts have been identified, of which 28 (36 per cent) have tested positive from five states (Edo-13, Ondo-8, Ebonyi-3, Kogi -3 and Bauchi-1).
“National Lassa fever multi-partner multi-agency Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels, however response has been de-escalated due to continued decline of cases over the past 9 weeks,” the report stated.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
