By Abujah Racheal
Abuja – The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 112 persons have so far lost their lives to Lassa Fever in Nigeria from January to March 17 this year.
The NCDC, which stated this on Friday on its verified website on also reported that no fewer than 45 health workers were infected with the disease during the same period.
It said that 3,079 suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported across the country, with 630 confirmed positive.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted by rats.
Scientists say the fever has been in human society since the 1950s but was only identified in 1969 following the death of two missionary nurses in Lassa, a town in Nigeria.
Found predominantly in West Africa, Lassa fever has the potential to cause thousands of deaths even as the virus remains in body fluids after recovery.
According to the NCDC, neighbouring countries remain at risk because the animal vector for Lassa virus, the “multimammate rat” is found throughout the region.
It added that the disease had been reported in 87 local government areas across 23 states of the federation.
The centre said 70 per cent of the confirmed cases were from Ondo, Edo and Bauchi States.
It noted that the predominant age group affected by the disease ranged between 21 and 30 years.
The NCDC stated that humans become infected due to direct contact with the urine and faeces of the rat carrying the virus.
”People also contract the disease by touching soiled objects, eating contaminated food, or exposure to open cuts or sores.
”Secondary transmission from person to person can also occur following exposure to the virus in the blood, tissue, urine, faeces or other bodily secretions of an infected patient,” it said. (NAN/vitalnews)
