The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020, disclosed that Lassa fever has killed one hundred and three (103) people, since the beginning of its current outbreak on December 30th, 2019.

According to the agency, people who have died as a result of the deadly disease lived in Katsina, Ondo, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Ebonyi, Kano, Kogi, Edo, Taraba, Plateau, Bauchi, Enugu, Abia, Sokoto and Kaduna.

A total of five hundred and eighty six (586) cases have been confirmed across Nigeria. Edo State has recorded the highest number of confirmed cases Lassa fever at 35 per cent, followed by Ondo with 32 per cent and Ebonyi at six per cent. Twenty six (26) states of the federation have also recorded at least one confirmed case across the one hundred and one (101) local government areas in the country.

NCDC’s report reads in part:

Cumulatively from week one to week 07, 2020, 103 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.6 per cent which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2019 (21.1 per cent).

The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (range: <1 to 78 years, median age: 33 years). The male to female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:1.2. The number of suspected cases has significantly increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2019.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.