NCDC confirms Lassa fever fatality rate drops drastically

The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, says Lassa fever cases have steadily increased over the years, but its fatality rate has dropped from almost 100 per cent in early 2000 to 17 per cent currently.

The Infectious Disease Epidemiologist said this is due to improvement in NCDC’s diagnostic capacity; clinical expertise at case management sites, heightened risk communication, community engagement, development of protocols and guidelines for case management, prevention and infection control.

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He also noted that the Agency has continued to advise the public to maintain good hygiene and high vigilance.

“We urge the healthcare providers to maintain a good index of suspicion and infection prevention and control measures as well as report all suspected cases of Lassa fever to their LGA Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers, who are the initial link to response and care for Lassa fever cases in Nigeria,” he added.

Speaking on the persistence of Lassa fever in Nigeria, Dr. Adetifa said, “Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria, meaning it is recurrent in an area or community. The persistent recording of Lassa fever in Nigeria is a result of multiple reasons, some of which include climate change, environmental and socio-behavioural drivers.

“The primary hosts of the virus are multimammate rats that naturally inhabit our forests and play a key role in the ecosystem. Culturally, these rats also serve as food for some people living in many of our communities. We also engage in practices like bush burning that also drive animals out of their habitats to our homes where they consume our raw materials that are not covered, and our food dried outside, which increases the chances of those food items being contaminated by infected rodents through their excreta and urine translating to increased risk of Lassa fever infection.”

On the Lassa fever vaccine in Nigeria, he revealed that the country is currently in the process of completing the Nigeria Lassa Epidemiology study funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, through the enabled programme.

He said: “The study involves the assessment of the disease in Nigeria to aid the feasibility of future clinical trials for vaccines. We also recently had a meeting with partners from the World Health Organisation, CEPI and other national stakeholders like the Federal Ministry of Health, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control on clinical trials and vaccine licensure in Nigeria. Progress continues to be made towards potential Lassa fever use and there is an upcoming WHO Lassa fever Roadmap meeting, which will further discuss this,” he said.