From week 1 to week 52 of 2022, no less than 189 deaths from Lassa fever were recorded out of 1,067 confirmed cases in 112 Local Government Areas in 27 states of the Federation.
The Lassa fever Situation Report for Epi Week 52: 26 December 2022 – 1 January 2023, released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, showed that there were 8,202 suspected cases, even as 63 healthcare workers were among the victims.
The report also noted that the number of reported deaths with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.7 per cent was lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (20.0 per cent).
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According to the NCDC, the number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021. In other words, Nigeria recorded more suspected Lassa fever cases towards the end of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. “In total for 2022, 27 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 112 LGAs, and 72 per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from Ondo, Edo and Bauchi) while 23 per cent were reported from 24 states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.
The Agency pointed out that of the 72 per cent of confirmed cases, Ondo State reported 33 per cent, Edo 25 per cent, and Bauchi 14 per cent.
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It said that the predominant age group affected is 21-30 years, while the male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.8
In week 52, the Agency noted that the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 17 in week 51, 2022, to 12 cases. These were reported from Edo, Ebonyi and Benue States.
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