Nigerian government has announced that it has begun tracing persons who might have contacted Lassa Fever across the country.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said a total of 1,277 people are being traced by the Centre over their possibility of being infected by the disease.
According to the NCDC, out of 3,779 suspected cases of the disease, 659 have been confirmed to be Lassa fever with 122 deaths already recorded in the space of 13 weeks (January to March 30, 2025).
The centre also said that 18 states across the country, including Ondo, Bauchi, and Edo have recorded cases of the disease.
A report released by the NCDC on Friday said, “Cumulatively, in week 13 of 2025, 122 deaths have been reported, with a Case Fatality Rate of 18.5%, which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2024 (18.7%).
“In total for 2025, 18 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 93 Local Government Areas. Seventy-one per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states (Ondo, Bauchi, and Edo), while 29% were reported from 15 other states with confirmed Lassa fever cases. Of the 71% of confirmed cases, Ondo reported 30%, Bauchi 25%, and Edo 16%,” the report stated.
The report also noted that most of the people affected by the disease are people between 21 and 30 years old.
It added that the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System (IMS) has been activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels.