- Odibo Victory
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), has on Monday, disclosed that Lassa fever has claimed 214 lives in Nigeria, with the Case Fatality Rate climbing to 25.0 percent,
This was contained in the NCDC Lassa Fever Situation Report for Week 23 (June 1 to June 7).
According to the Agency, this is a sharp increase from the 18.9% fatality rate recorded during the same period in 2025.
The agency also disclosed that both suspected and confirmed cases have also increased compared to 2025.
“New confirmed cases held steady in week 23, matching the count from week 22.
“Infections were reported in Edo, Ondo, Bauchi and Ebonyi. No new healthcare worker infections were reported during the week.
“The outbreak has spread across 23 states and 109 Local Government Areas since January 2026,” it said.
According to the NCDC, five states accounted for 84 percent of all confirmed cases.
“Ondo leads with 28 percent, followed by Bauchi 25 percent, Taraba 15 percent, Edo 10 percent, and Benue six percent.
“The remaining 16 percent of cases are spread across 18 other states with confirmed infections,” it said.
According to the agency, young adults remain most affected, with the predominant age group being 21-30 years and cases ranging from one to 93 years and a median age of 30 years.
The agency said that to coordinate the response, the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System (IMS)remained activated.
According to the agency, the IMS is supporting response activities at federal, state and LGA levels.
It said no new healthcare worker case was reported in week 23, the higher CFR and wider geographic spread point to ongoing transmission pressure.
According to it, surveillance and case management efforts continue across the 23 affected states.