The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported two deaths from Lassa fever in the first week of October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,025 and 174 deaths across 28 states in 2024.
The NCDC, in its week 40 situation report, noted that the country’s case fatality rate remains at 17.0 per cent, consistent with the same period in 2023. The report also highlighted a decrease in confirmed cases, dropping from nine in week 39 to seven in the current reporting week.
Concerning affected states, 68 per cent of reported cases were reported in Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi states, while the remaining 32 per cent were spread across 25 other states. The number of suspected cases in 2024 has risen to 8,484, compared to 7,621 in the same period last year.
The NCDC further stated that no health worker was affected in the reporting week. According to the report, the most affected age group remains individuals between 21-30 years. To manage the outbreak, the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System has been activated at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to coordinate responses nationwide.
Challenges in tackling Lassa fever were also outlined by the report, including late presentation of cases, high treatment costs leading to poor health-seeking behaviour, poor environmental sanitation, and low awareness in high-burden communities.
 has reported two deaths from Lassa fever in the first week of October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,025 and 174 deaths across 28 states in 2024.){kind=link}