Between 14 and 20 February, 2022, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 91 new cases of Lassa fever and 21 new fatalities from the virus.
Before then, no fewer than 211 laboratory confirmed cases, including 40 deaths, were cumulatively reported in 14 of the 36 Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that three states – Ondo (63), Edo (57) and Bauchi (53) – accounted for 82 percent of the 211 confirmed cases.
The other states affected are Benue (11), Ebonyi (5), Oyo (5), Taraba (5), Kogi (4), Enugu (2), Kaduna (2), Cross River (1), Delta (1), Katsina (1) and Plateau (1).
Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and the annual peak of Lassa fever cases is typically observed during the dry season, which is December to April.
It is understood that once a person is ill with the virus, they can pass it on to others should they come into contact with the infected person’s body fluids.
‘I contracted Lassa fever in February 2021. When I tested positive, I was shocked’, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), quoted Anastasia Obiomarichi, a Lassa survivor from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, as saying.
‘It came like malaria, and I bought anti-malaria drugs from a pharmacy. When I took it for three days, I was still sick. In fact, my situation was worse’.
According to MSF, Lassa fever symptoms are very similar to malaria, making it difficult to diagnose.
‘Many medical staff [do not] have specific training on the detection and treatment of Lassa. As a result, patients often only receive an accurate diagnosis once they are at a severe stage of the disease, which is more challenging to treat’, the humanitarian organisation said in a Lassa fever response update.
MSF is working to treat Lassa fever in Ebonyi State, with the aim to tackle the root causes of the virus and its large impact on infected people.
‘A key trial of rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for Lassa fever is currently underway at AE-FUTHA. If an RDT proves effective, it could help drastically reduce the waiting time for laboratory test results’, the organisation said.
‘Timing is important; a patient moves from a mild condition to severe. And when it becomes severe, it is more difficult to manage’, an MSF medical doctor, Okereke Uche, exlained.
With regard to Lassa fever awareness, it was gathered that MSF, through a team of health promotors, is educating communities across seven local government areas in the state.
The team organises community meetings, health talks and awareness campaigns in villages and rural areas.
The government of Nigeria has also been responding to Lassa fever. Through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the government activated the National Emergency Operations Centre alert mode for effective multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary coordination of the response.
There are also public health operation centres in affected states, with national rapid response teams (NRRT) deployed to the FCT, Bauchi, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Nasarawa, Ondo, Oyo and Taraba.
As MSF’s Uche explained, timely diagnosis results in more rapid isolation of patients and provision of treatment, while also reducing the risk of person-to-person transmission in health care settings.
Therefore, early supportive care with rehydration and symptomatic treatment improves survival of patients.
Photo source: MSF/Hussein Amri
