Delta reports four cases of Lassa fever, as NCDC confirms 20 deaths across 16 states

Four cases of Lassa fever have been confirmed in four local government areas of Delta State.

This is also as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has now reported fresh Lassa fever cases with 20 deaths across 16 states of the country one week.

State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Onojaeme, who disclosed, Thursday, while briefing newsmen on the status of outbreak of the disease, added that the government was doing a lot on advocacy especially to health workers and sensitisation of residents to having a high index of suspicion when they see those cases.

“In week 12, we have four confirmed cases so far recorded with a fatality rate of 50% though the general fatality rate for Lassa fever is 1 – 15%.

“So, we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that we curtail the transmission from patient to health workers and from patients to relatives,” the Commissioner said.

“The affected local government Areas where the cases were recorded are Okpe, Oshimili North, Oshimili South and Ndokwa East.

“Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) have been set up across the State to monitor the situation and ensure residents are aware of what is going on,” the commissioner said.

Dr Onojaeme added that the State Government was working with Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo State and was able to achieve less than 24 hours of getting test results of Lassa fever as against the 72 hours range.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has revealed that new Lassa fever cases and 20 deaths have been recorded across 16 states in one week.

The NCDC, via its official website, disclosed that the period spans from February 26 to March 3.

It also noted that for week nine of 2024, there was an increase in the confirmed cases from 96, in week eight.

According to the NCDC, despite efforts made to curb the disease, the country continued to face new cases and fatalities, underscoring the persistent threat posed by Lassa fever.

It disclosed that the country registered 109 cases, all in one week.

‘‘Cumulatively, the report shows that from week one to nine, Nigeria recorded 682 confirmed cases and 128 deaths with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.8 per cent, which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2023 which was 16.1 per cent,” NCDC added.

The agency further stated that the number of suspected cases increased, compared to that which was reported for the same period in 2023, adding that eight new healthcare workers were affected in the reporting week 9.

The agency listed states affected to include Ondo, Bauchi, Edo, Benue, Ebonyi, Kogi, Kaduna, Taraba, Enugu, Delta, Jigawa, Adamawa, Anambra, Rivers, Ogun and Oyo.

According to the situation report, 62 per cent of all the confirmed cases were reported from Ondo, Edo and Bauchi, while 38 per cent were from 24 states with confirmed cases, adding that the predominant age group affected was 31 to 40 years, while the male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases was 1:0.9.

The NCDC said that the National Lassa Fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System had been activated to coordinate response at all levels at the Emergency Operations Centre.

Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic (excessive bleeding) illness that is transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated by infected rodents or contaminated persons.

Its symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from ears, eyes, nose, mouth and other body openings.