The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed that Lassa fever killed 162 people in the first six months of this year.
The Centre’s 16th-week Lassa fever situation report, released on its Twitter handle @NCDCgov on Thursday, stated that 897 confirmed cases were recorded in 26 states and 103 local government areas from January 1 to April 23, 2023.
According to the NCDC, 944 confirmed cases and 5,593 suspected cases of the disease were recorded so far since January 2023.
The health agency disclosed that no fewer than 28 persons died as a result of the ravaging disease in some states in the country.
The States, according to NCDC, are Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Kogi, Taraba, Gombe, Enugu Kano, Jigawa, Oyo and FCT, among others.
“Cumulatively, from week 1 to week 20, 2023, 162 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 17.2% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2022 (19.8%).
“In total, for 2023, 28 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 106 LGAs,” the centre’s 20th-week report read, just as it also added that,, “the number of suspected cases increased, compared to that reported for the same period in 2022.”
Recall that on 1 May 2023, the mortality toll of Lassa fever in Nigeria was disclosed to be 154 while it recorded 897 confirmed cases and a total of 4,908 suspected cases.
