Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak has killed 190 people since the start of the year, with health authorities warning that rising fatality rates reflect delayed treatment and poor healthcare access in affected communities.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that the disease’s case fatality rate rose to 25.2 percent in April, compared with 19.1 percent during the same period last year.
Between January and April, Nigeria recorded 663 confirmed infections from more than 3,220 suspected cases across 105 local government areas in 23 states.
The worst-affected states included Edo and Ondo in southern Nigeria, as well as Bauchi, Benue and Taraba in the north, which together accounted for more than 84 percent of confirmed infections.
According to the health agency, adults between the ages of 21 and 30 represented the most affected demographic group during the outbreak.
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Officials attributed the worsening death toll partly to late presentation of cases at health facilities and weak health-seeking behaviour in heavily affected communities.
The agency also cited poor sanitation and limited public awareness as major factors contributing to the spread of the disease.
Nigeria has activated a multi-sectoral incident management system to coordinate response efforts nationwide, including surveillance, case management and public awareness campaigns.
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Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness primarily transmitted through exposure to food or household items contaminated by the urine or faeces of infected rodents.
Human-to-human transmission can also occur through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals, particularly in healthcare settings with inadequate infection control measures.
Nigeria experiences seasonal outbreaks of Lassa fever almost every year, particularly during the dry season when human exposure to rodents tends to increase.
Public health experts say early diagnosis and prompt treatment are critical to improving survival rates, but access to healthcare remains uneven in many rural and underserved areas.
The outbreak adds pressure to Nigeria’s healthcare system as authorities continue efforts to strengthen disease surveillance and emergency response capacity in Africa’s most populous nation.
