The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has found more people getting sick from a disease called Lassa fever in week 39 of 2024. Two states, Ondo and Edo, reported nine new cases.
The NCDC shared this news on their official website, using their latest report about Lassa fever.
This news is important because only four cases were reported the week before. Now, with more cases, the number of people who got sick and those who died this year is higher than before.
So far in 2024, 1,018 people in 28 states have gotten Lassa fever, showing that the disease is spreading more.
From September 23 to 29 (week 39), the disease caused 172 deaths. This means the chance of someone dying from Lassa fever is now 16.9%, a bit higher than the 16.8% rate in the same time last year in 2023.
The new cases are mostly in Ondo and Edo states. Together with Bauchi, these states make up 68 out of every 100 cases in 2024.
Ondo has 28 out of every 100 cases, Edo has 23, and Bauchi has 17 out of 100 cases.
The disease mostly affects people aged 31 to 40, with the same number of men and women getting sick.
The good news is that no doctors or nurses got sick during this time, even though more people are affected.
Even though the whole country is trying hard to stop the disease, it is still making many people very sick and causing deaths, which is bad news.
The problem might be because people are having a hard time getting the right treatment on time.
The National Lassa Fever Technical Working Group is in charge of making sure we continue to fight this disease. They send out alerts to keep everyone informed through a special system called NPRAS.
The NCDC and other groups are working together, using different ideas and resources, to help stop this disease from hurting more people.