The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it has sent letters to states to alert the authorities on the disturbing trend of Lassa fever outbreak in the country.
In its latest situation report on the disease published recently, the agency revealed that a total of 102 infected people died from the disease in 2021. A breakdown of the report on Week 52 which covers December 27, 2021, to January 2, 2022, shows that three new deaths were recorded.
“In week 52, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 29 in week 51, 2021 to 28 cases,” it stated. “These were reported from Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Kaduna and Taraba States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 52, 2021, 102 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 20.0% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2020 (20.7%). In total for 2021, 17 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 68 Local Government Areas.”
Of all the cases confirmed last year, three states accounted for 84 per cent – Edo (42 per cent), Ondo (34 per cent), and Bauchi (eight per cent).
