Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak has claimed 252 lives, with the country recording 1,035 confirmed cases as of Epidemiological Week 33, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The figures represent a 24.4 per cent case fatality rate (CFR), significantly higher than the 18.6 per cent recorded during the same period in 2025.
The NCDC said 14 new confirmed cases were recorded between August 10 and 16, 2026, up from four cases reported in the preceding week. The new infections were recorded in Ondo, Bauchi, Edo and Benue states, bringing the cumulative number of suspected cases to 7,426, with six probable cases also reported.
So far this year, 23 states and 117 Local Government Areas have recorded at least one confirmed Lassa fever case.
Five states — Ondo, Bauchi, Taraba, Edo and Benue — account for 87 per cent of the confirmed cases nationwide. Ondo leads with 33 per cent, followed by Bauchi at 25 per cent, Taraba at 13 per cent, Edo at 10 per cent and Benue at six per cent.
The NCDC said people aged 21 to 30 years constitute the most affected age group, although confirmed cases have been recorded among people aged between one and 93 years. The median age is 30, while the male-to-female ratio stands at 1:0.9.
The agency also disclosed that 54 healthcare workers have been infected in 2026, although no new healthcare-worker infection was recorded during Week 33.
The rising fatality rate has been attributed partly to delayed presentation and poor health-seeking behaviour. Other challenges identified by the NCDC include the high cost of treatment and clinical management, poor environmental sanitation, limited awareness in high-burden communities and infections among healthcare workers.
To strengthen the response, the NCDC said it has intensified surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and case management across affected states.
The agency has also introduced a 30-day Healthcare Worker Protection Plan, with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aimed at reducing infections among frontline health workers.
Personal protective equipment has been pre-positioned and distributed to health facilities, while national rapid response teams have been deployed to seven high-burden states. Healthcare workers are also receiving additional training in Lassa fever screening, triage, case management and infection prevention.
The NCDC urged states to intensify community engagement, particularly in high-burden areas, to improve awareness, strengthen prevention and encourage people with symptoms to seek medical attention early.
Lassa fever is an acute viral illness primarily transmitted through contact with food or household items contaminated by urine or faeces of infected multimammate rats. It can also spread from person to person, particularly in healthcare settings where infection-control measures are inadequate.
The NCDC stressed that strengthening the ability of states to prevent, detect and respond rapidly to Lassa fever remains critical to reducing deaths from the disease.
