The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that the recent outbreak of Lassa Fever in the country has resulted in 144 deaths.
According to Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director General of NCDC, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) stands at 16.8%. This represents an increase of 12 deaths from the previous week, when the death toll was 132.
Ihekweazu also stated that the current CFR is lower than the CFR recorded during the same period in 2019, which was 23.3%. This suggests improved detection and case management.
Initially, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 85 in Week Nine of 2020 to 81 cases in Week 10. Between week one and 10 of 2020, there were 3416 suspected cases, 855 confirmed cases, 11 probable cases, and 144 deaths. This is compared to the same period in 2019, which saw 1752 suspected cases, 472 confirmed cases, 15 probable cases, and 110 deaths.
As of 2020, 27 states have reported at least one confirmed case across 119 local government areas. The majority of confirmed cases (74%) are from Edo (34%), Ondo (33%), and Ebonyi (7%).
Lassa Fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted by a vector known as the multimammate rat. The virus is transmitted from the vector’s excreta or urine to humans, and can also spread from humans to humans. Its symptoms in the early stages resemble those of febrile illnesses like malaria.
Common symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplained bleeding from various parts of the body. Early diagnosis and treatment can improve a patient’s chances of survival.