At least 35 people across five states have been confirmed to have Lassa fever and seven have died across three states in the last one week, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said.
The new cases brought to 353 the number of cases confirmed for Lassa since the start of January. In the same period, 110 people have died.
A total 1,121 cases have been suspected for Lassa but 723 have tested negative, eight are listed as “probable” cases and 37 still await laboratory results. At least 85% of all the cases confirmed for Lassa were from Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi-the three most-affected states.
Two health workers were confirmed positive this week in Ebonyi, bringing the number of health workers affected to 16 in six states. Some 35 people remained hospitalized at Irrua Specialist Hospital in Edo, 18 at Federal Medical Centre, Owo and 16 at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
Officials have identified 3,126 contacts in 18 states, where Lassa fever is active. Germany-based Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine is supporting reference laboratories in Edo, Abuja and Lagos with testing reagents, NCDC said in a situation report.
