The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 80 persons have so far died from Lassa fever as of Thursday in 17 states.

NCDC said the first death was a pregnant woman who was presented in a health facility in Nasarawa State and a medical doctor involved in the management of the patient that later sought medical care in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It disclosed the information during its routine situation report of Lassa Fever outbreak in the country on in Abuja.

According to NCDC report, 434 cases have been reported in the country.

The NCDC report, named the states affected by the infections to include Edo (192), Ondo (150), Taraba (21), Ebonyi (17), Bauchi (15), Benue (8),

It added that while Plateau recorded eight cases Kaduna recorded seven.

Others are Enugu State (5), Nasarawa (3), Kogi (3), Cross River (1), Imo (1), Anambra (1), Delta (1), and Abia (1).

“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 17 states and 63 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

Currently, seven laboratories in the country have the capacity to test for Lassa fever and it is been coordinated by the NCDC National Reference Laboratory (NRL).

In addition, NCDC is participating in the largest-ever Lassa fever study supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI) to provide an accurate assessment of the incidence of the disease in West Africa.

This is also geared towards the development of vaccine and therapeutics for Lassa fever.

Another medical doctor linked to the index case has also been confirmed to have Lassa fever and he is currently receiving medical care in FCT.

The Nasarawa State Ministry of Health with support of NCDC has commenced an in-depth epidemiological investigation of the cases to understand the possible source of infection and the extent of the spread of the disease.

The body disclosed that contact tracing of all the close contacts of the patients has commenced.

The NCDC said that as the country continues to build on lessons from previous outbreaks to ensure adequate preparedness for future emergencies, the public are encouraged to keep their environments clean.

Lassa fever virus is transmitted by rodents which can be found in our environment.

NCDC advised Nigerians who show symptoms of Lassa fever to report immediately by calling hotlines provided by their State Ministry of Health or 6232.

Symptoms of Lassa fever include fever, headache, general body weakness with or without bleeding through the orifices in the body including mouth, nostrils etc.

Following renewed outbreak of Lassa fever in some states Ekiti State has heightened its surveillance of the disease.

Dr. Oyebanji Filani, Ekiti State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, said in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti that the ministry’s intervention was to nip the incidence of the disease in the bud.

Filani said the measure was to also mitigate the outbreak of the disease in any part of the state.

The commissioner said government was also using the opportunity to alert public on the outbreak and spread of Lassa fever in some states.

“Given the risk of this outbreak escalating across the country, especially during this dry season, the Ministry of Health has intensified surveillance activities.

“Surveillance teams have been notified at the local government area level on how to quickly identify and report suspected cases.

“This is in line with earlier developed emergency operations plan to tackle a possible Lassa fever outbreak in Ekiti State,” he stated.