By Precious Mark
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has activated its multi-partner, multi-sectoral National Lassa Fever Incident Management System (IMS) following a deadly surge in infections across the country.
The national emergency deployment follows a worrisome spike in active virus transmission, with the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) hitting a dangerous cumulative peak of 24%, resulting in 221 deaths.
This marks a significant and sharper lethality rate compared to the 18.7% fatality index recorded during the exact same operational period last year.
Epidemiological data released by the apex disease control agency on Friday details a steady, week-on-week escalation of the disease throughout June. A detailed analysis of the latest three tracker cycles reveals that in Week 24, a total of 149 new suspected cases were registered, yielding 13 confirmed infections and 2 fatalities.
The numbers scaled up in Week 25 to 150 new suspected cases, 22 confirmed infections, and 3 deaths. By Week 26, spanning June 22 to June 28, the outbreak surged rapidly to 205 new suspected cases, resulting in 31 fresh laboratory-confirmed infections and 2 additional deaths within a single seven-day window.
The NCDC confirmed that the recent cluster of 31 confirmed cases was concentrated across volatile hotbeds in Bauchi, Ondo, Taraba, and Benue States.
The frontline medical workforce also suffered another blow as one new healthcare worker was confirmed infected during the reporting week, renewing deep anxieties over institutional biosafety protocols and the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in rural clinical settings. So far, the virus has cut through 23 states of the federation, embedding itself deeply across 111 Local Government Areas.
According to the NCDC Situation Report, five frontline states bear the overwhelming brunt of the crisis, accounting for a staggering 85% of all verified infections nationwide.
Ondo State leads the national charts with 30% of the burden, followed closely by Bauchi State at 26%. Taraba State accounts for 14%, Edo State stands at 9%, while Benue State holds 6% of the caseload.
The remaining 15% of cases are scattered across 18 other states, indicating a widespread geographic distribution that complicates containment logistics.
Demographic profiles released by the agency also present a grim economic picture, showing that the virus is disproportionately striking Nigeria’s core productive demographic. The predominant age group affected by the current outbreak is young adults aged 21 to 30 years.
However, data indicates no age group is entirely safe, with infections spanning an extraordinary range from an infant of one year to an elderly citizen of 93 years. The male-to-female vulnerability ratio remains nearly equal at 1:0.9.
Disturbed by the comparative escalation where both suspected and confirmed cases have vastly outpaced the records of the previous year, the NCDC announced that the full weight of the national emergency infrastructure is now deployed to assist states with case management, environmental sanitation, and contact tracing.
In a warning accompanying the report, the NCDC emphasized that the sustained transmission numbers demand urgent, high-level vigilance from both state actors and ordinary citizens.
The agency stated on Friday that these figures highlight the need for continued vigilance, early detection, and strict preventive measures, urging healthcare structures to enforce infection prevention controls.
Public health experts have warned that with 23 states actively battling the disease simultaneously, local health systems face severe strain.
The NCDC has urged citizens to eliminate vector breeding grounds by keeping households clean, blocking all entry points for Mastomys rats, sealing food items in rodent-proof containers, and shunning the practice of drying foodstuffs on open tarmacs or roadsides. Frontline clinicians have also been strongly directed to maintain a high index of suspicion for all cases of unexplained fevers and strictly adhere to standard barrier nursing precautions to avert further medical casualties.