Lassa fever, meningitis death toll rises

MNigerians have succumbed to the ongoing Lassa fever (LF) and Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) outbreaks in over 27 states of the country.

According to the latest figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 37 new cases were reported from nine states; 10 in Edo, 12 in Ondo, four each in Ebonyi and Plateau, three in Taraba and one each in Benue, Gombe, Rivers and Kebbi.

There are also two new deaths each in Edo, Plateau and Ondo and four in Ebonyi.

NCDC said that in the first 40 days of 2019, a total of 947 suspected cases were reported from 20 states and the Abuja, of which 324 were confirmed positive, three probable and 620 negative.

The centre noted that since the onset of the 2019 outbreak, there had been 69 deaths and put fatality ratio in confirmed cases at 21.3 per cent

Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Plateau, Taraba, Abuja, Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Benue, Rivers, Kogi, Enugu, Imo, Delta, Oyo and Kebbi states, it noted, recorded at least one confirmed case.

NCDC noted that 91 patients were being managed at various treatment centres across the country.

To address the situation, the NCDC said multi-sectoral one-health national rapid response team, including the NCDC, the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (NFELTP), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Federal Ministry of Environment had been deployed to Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi, Plateau and Bauchi state.