Recent outbreak of Lassa Fever in Nigeria has resulted in 144 deaths, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director General of NCDC, provided an update on the disease and indicated that the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 16.8 percent. The number of deaths has increased from 132 to 144 in the past week.
Ihekweazu also mentioned that the current CFR of 16.8% is lower than the CFR of 23.3% reported during the same period in 2019. This improvement suggests enhanced detection and case management for Lassa Fever.
The number of new confirmed cases decreased from 85 cases in Week Nine of 2020 to 81 cases in Week 10. From week one to 10 in 2020, there were 3416 suspected cases, 855 confirmed cases, 11 probable cases, and 144 deaths. This is in comparison to the same period in 2019, which had 1752 suspected cases, 472 confirmed cases, 15 probable cases, and 110 deaths.
Twenty-seven states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 119 local government areas in 2020. Edo, Ondo, and Ebonyi have reported the highest percentages of confirmed cases at 34%, 33%, and 7% respectively.
Lassa Fever, a hemorrhagic disease, is transmitted by a vector known as the multimammate rat. The virus can be transmitted from the excreta or urine of the vector to humans and from humans to humans. Initial symptoms of the disease are similar to febrile illnesses such as malaria.
Common symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pains, chest pain, and in severe cases, unexplainable bleeding from various body orifices. Early diagnosis and treatment can improve a patient’s chances of survival.