Lassa fever epidemic in Nigeria

…Africa CDC recommends automated disease reporting

NIGERIANS have been warned to get ready for another round of Lassa fever infections across the country.

  Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) issued the warning in its latest Lassa fever Situation Report issued in Abuja, today.

  The warning is coming after recent confirmation of infections in 24 states and 98 local government areas where there has been at least one confirmed case of Lassa fever this year according.

  Explaining that the country has confirmed 142 more cases of Lassa fever in 2023 than within the same period in 2022 when 681 cases were reported while number of confirmed deaths so far this year, 144, is also higher than deaths recorded within the same period in 2022 (127), the update said Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi States account for almost three-quarters (or 72 per cent) of all confirmed Lassa fever cases.

  It will be recalled that humans usually become infected with Lassa virus from exposure to urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats, which they can then spread to other people via bodily secretions.

  Meanwhile, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) recommends that countries on the continent move rapidly to automated disease reporting systems across the continent to cope with disease outbreaks, as Nigeria grapples with Lassa fever and Malawi and Mozambique struggle with cholera.