The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says the emergency phase
of this year’s Lassa fever outbreak is over.
The NCDC, in a statement on Tuesday, said this followed the
successive decline in cases below the emergency threshold and an
epidemiological review carried out by it and the World Health
Organisation.
It said the Lassa fever case count had significantly declined in
the last three weeks and had now dropped below levels considered to
be a national emergency.
The NCDC said there was a decline in case fatality of Lassa
fever from 23% in 2019 to 19% in 2020, adding that it also
supported peer to peer training by creating exchange programmes
between states, treatment centres and laboratories.
The NCDC had January 24 declared a Lassa fever outbreak and
activated a national Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)
in response to an increase in Lassa fever cases at the beginning of
the year, exceeding the threshold for an outbreak.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, 979 confirmed cases and 188
deaths had been recorded from 27 states including the Federal
Capital Territory as of April 19, 2020.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control says the emergency phase
of this year’s Lassa fever outbreak is over.
The NCDC, in a statement on Tuesday, said this followed the
successive decline in cases below the emergency threshold and an
epidemiological review carried out by it and the World Health
Organisation.
It said the Lassa fever case count had significantly declined in
the last three weeks and had now dropped below levels considered to
be a national emergency.
The NCDC said there was a decline in case fatality of Lassa
fever from 23% in 2019 to 19% in 2020, adding that it also
supported peer to peer training by creating exchange programmes
between states, treatment centres and laboratories.
The NCDC had January 24 declared a Lassa fever outbreak and
activated a national Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)
in response to an increase in Lassa fever cases at the beginning of
the year, exceeding the threshold for an outbreak.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, 979 confirmed cases and 188
deaths had been recorded from 27 states including the Federal
Capital Territory as of April 19, 2020.