The death toll of Lassa fever in Nigeria so far this year has risen to 151 from the previous 148, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

In its 14th-week Lassa fever situation report, the NCDC said there had been a total of 869 confirmed cases recorded from 26 states and 101 local government areas from January 1 to April 9, 2023.

A total of 4,555 suspected cases were recorded during the period under review.

With the current death toll, the public health institution noted that the case-fatality ratio of the outbreak stood at 17.4 percent.

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Of the 869 cases confirmed this year, the predominant age group affected was 21-30 years and the male-to-female ratio for the confirmed cases was 10:9.

According to the World Health Organisation, Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by the Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. Humans usually become infected with the Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with the urine or feces of infected Mastomys rats. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.

Lassa fever is known to be endemic in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Nigeria, but probably exists in other West African countries as well.

“Seventy-one percent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states (Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi) while 29 percent were reported from three states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.