Fear Grips Nigerians As NCDC Confirms 80 Killed By Lassa Fever
- The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that 80 fatality cases have been recorded across the country from Lassa Fever
- The data was released by the NCDC in its routine situation report on the ongoing Lassa fever disease outbreak
- The centre also gave highlights of the disease outbreak in states across various regions of the country
Eighty people have died from Lassa fever as of Thursday, December 16, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said.
Daily Trust reports that the centre in its routine situation report on the Lassa Fever outbreak in Nigeria said 80 people have died from the disease while a total of 434 cases have been reported in various states of Nigeria.
Source: Facebook
Giving highlights of states with cases of Lassa fever, the NCDC in its report said Edo state has 192 cases; Ondo, 150 cases; Taraba, 21 cases; Ebonyi, 17 cases; Bauchi, 15 cases and Benue, eight cases.
The report also said that Plateau recorded eight cases while Kaduna recorded seven. Others are Enugu State (5), Nasarawa (3), Kogi (3), Cross River (1), Imo (1), Anambra (1), Delta (1), and Abia (1).
PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG!
NCDC said in the report:
“The disease is endemic in Nigeria like in several other countries in West Africa and most cases are seen during the dry season, often between November and May annually."
“Since January 2021, a total of 434 confirmed cases with 80 deaths (i.e., a case fatality rate of 18 per cent) have been reported in seventeen (17) States and sixty-three (63) Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria."
Seven Laboratories have the capacity to handle Lassa fever in Nigeria
The Guardian reports that seven laboratories in Nigeria have the capacity to test for Lassa fever across regions of the country.
The NCDC said the laboratories are been coordinated by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) as the centre is participating in the largest-ever Lassa fever study supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI).
According to the centre, the study will provide an accurate assessment of the incidence of the disease in West Africa with a view to developing vaccines and therapeutics for Lassa fever.
Lassa Fever has killed more people in the southwest than COVID-19
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that on Tuesday, December 29, 2020, Jibayo Adeyeye, the acting commissioner for health in Ondo claimed that Lassa fever has killed more people in the southwest state than COVID-19.
The acting commissioner also claimed the Lassa fever is deadlier than COVID-19.
The data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) indicates that 81 people have died from Lassa fever in Ondo state while 41 people have also died from COVID-19 from the southwest state.
Nigerians have been advised to quit consuming soaked garri
Nigerians have been cautioned against consuming soaked gari. This call was made by Dr Boniface Okolo, the director of Public Health, Enugu state.
According to him, this must be done in order to avoid contacting Lassa fever.
The medical doctor argued that rats are most times in contact with Garri and that the rodents are the cause of the disease.
Source: Legit.ng
