from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – AT least 73 people have died from an ongoing outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria.
The deaths from the disease spread by rodents have been recorded from 354 confirmed cases since the beginning of the year.
This is relatively lower than the 220 people that had died at this time of the year in 2020 when 1 060 cases had been recorded.
In total for 2021, 14 states – out of 36 – have recorded at least one confirmed case across 60 local government areas in the West African country.
Of all confirmed cases, 83 percent are from the states of Edo, Ondo and Taraba.
The predominant age-group affected is 21-30 years, with the male to female ratio for confirmed cases at 1:0,8.
National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels.
Lassa fever is a viral infection carried by the multimammate rat, one of the most common rodents in equatorial Africa.
The illness was discovered in 1969 and is named after the town in Nigeria where the first cases occurred.
Nigeria has not been spared the outbreak of COVID-19.
It has confirmed 188 243 cases, including 2 281 deaths.
– CAJ News