Lassa fever has killed 138 Nigerians out of 4,881 suspected cases in 93 Local Government Areas in 18 states from January to May 8, this year.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which revealed this on its website on Wednesday said it has recorded 717 confirmed Lassa fever.
The NCDC this represents Case Fatality Rate of 19.3 per cent.
Taraba State leads with 34 deaths; Bauchi, 15; Edo, 19; Ondo, 27; Ebonyi, 11; Kogi, four; Gombe, seven, Plateau and Benue, five each, Nasarawa, four, Kaduna and Delta, two each; Enugu, Cross-River and Ogun, one each.
The report partly read, “In week 18, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 11 in epi week 17, of 2025, to 10. These were reported in Ondo, Edo, Bauchi and Benue States.
“Cumulatively in week 18, 2025, 138 deaths have been reported with a CFR of 19.2 per cent which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2024 (18.0 per cent).
“In total for 2025, 18 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 93 Local Government Areas.”
It said 71 per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from three states (Ondo, Bauchi and Taraba) while 28 per cent were reported from 15 states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.
Also, of the 71 per cent confirmed cases, Ondo reported 30 per cent, Bauchi 25 per cent, and Taraba 16 per cent.
The predominant age group affected is 21-30 years (Range: 1 to 96 years, Median Age: 30 years); and the male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases is 1:0.8.
“The number of suspected and confirmed cases decreased compared to that reported for the same period in 2024.
“No new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 18.
“The National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels,” it noted.
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus.
The natural reservoir for the virus is the multimammate rat (also known as the African rat), although other rodents can also act as carriers.
