…22% fatality rate
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said with 318 confirmed cases and 70 deaths, the case fatality rate (CFR) now stands at 22%, raising urgent questions about early detection, treatment access, and state-level preparedness in the country’s most affected areas.
Director-General of NCDC, Jide Idris, who disclosed this on Friday in Abuja, during a press briefing on Lassa fever, noted that only five states account for 91% of confirmed cases, adding that just 10 local government areas (LGAs) are responsible for 68%.
He disclosed that 15 healthcare workers have also been infected in the current outbreak. He further said that the centre had activated its Incident Management System (IMS) to coordinate the national response and holds weekly National Lassa Fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) meetings to review the situation and guide interventions at the state level.
Idris added that National Rapid Response Teams had been deployed to Bauchi, Ondo, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Benue and Jigawa states, with further deployments planned as necessary. He stated that laboratory testing commodities had been distributed across its network, while medical countermeasures, including personal protective equipment (PPE), treatment supplies and dialysis support for complicated cases were supplied to treatment centres nationwide.
On healthcare worker infections, the NCDC boss said investigations over the past two years had identified poor Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices, low index of suspicion in high-burden areas and delayed care-seeking due to fear of stigma.
He noted that the centre continued to provide public health information on preventive measures, including rodent control and safe food storage practices, and had shared Social Behavioural Change materials with State Health Promotion Officers and Risk Communication stakeholders.
He also raised concerns over reports that some treatment centres were operating below standard, with cases of patients absconding and disruptions to safe burial protocols due to resource constraints.
Idris further observed that dialysis machines donated to manage severe Lassa fever cases were not being fully utilised in some facilities, while high service charges in certain centres could pose barriers to care. He stressed that effective outbreak control requires stronger state-level coordination and urged state governments to intensify active case search, scale up risk communication, remove treatment cost barriers, and enforce IPC practices across all health facilities.
The DG reiterated that outbreak containment begins at the community level and requires sustained political commitment from state leadership to reduce fatalities and prevent further spread.
