Lassa fever claimed 40 lives in January – NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says that the outbreak of Lassa fever in January has claimed 40 lives.

A situation report on Sunday by the centre explained that the 40 deaths represented a case of fatality rate (CFR) of 19.0 per cent lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 which was 22.2 per cent.

According to the report, 211 confirmed cases of the disease were recorded out of a total of 981 suspected cases, adding that 14 states had recorded at least one confirmed case across 43 local government areas.

It explained, “Of all confirmed cases, 82 per cent are from Ondo, Edo and Bauchi states.”

The centre also explained that no new healthcare was affected in the fourth week of January.

The report stated that the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Coordination Centre (EOC) was activated to coordinate response activities at all levels.