The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has sounded the alarm about Lassa fever as the disease spreads across Nigeria with additional cases and deaths reported, and fatality rate continues to increase.
In its April 2025 Epidemiological Week 23 situation report (June 2–8, 2025) which was published on Wednesday, The NCDC disclosed that there had been a total of 143 deaths from 758 confirmed cases of Lassa fever so far this year, with case fatality rates moving up from 17.8% reported in the same period in 2024 to 18.9%.
The report also confirmed 11 new cases in the reviewed week, compared to the eight reported in the previous week, with fresh infections reported in Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, and Taraba States.
In 2025 the infection has been recorded in at least one of 18 states and 96 Local Government Areas but 90% of infections were concentrated in Ondo (31%), Bauchi (25%), Edo (16%), Taraba (15%), and Ebonyi (3%).
The most affected remains young adults aged 21–30 with a median age of 30. In the reviewed week, one new healthcare worker was recorded. However, the number of health personnel that have been affected this year remains 23.
The NCDC highlighted key challenges exacerbating the outbreak, including delayed presentation of cases, low awareness, high treatment costs, poor health-seeking behaviour, and unsanitary living conditions.
To address the crisis, the agency has activated a multi-sectoral Incident Management System and sent 10 Rapid Response Teams to the high burden states.
The NCDC advised Nigerians to stay vigilant, practice personal and environmental hygiene, report symptoms early to a healthcare worker, and avoid contact with rodents and rodent droppings, the main source of transmission of the virus.
Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease which is mainly transmitted through urine or faeces of infected person(s).
