BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed that the country is facing a dangerous resurgence of Lassa fever with reports of sudden spike in new infections shattering the brief period of declining cases nationwide.
According to the NCDC, field reports from health officials indicate that weekly infections jumped from 14 to 25 during epidemiological week 28, indicating that the viral threat remains aggressively active across the country.
The reports said this latest surge pushes Nigeria’s devastating 2026 toll to 963 cumulative confirmed infections and 229 tragic deaths with public health authorities warning that the current case fatality rate has climbed to a worrying 23.8 percent, vastly outstripping the severity of the outbreak of 18.7 percent recorded during the same period in 2025.
The NCDC’s Lassa Fever situation report released on Friday indicated continued transmission across affected states, noting that the week 28 cases were reported in Ondo, Bauchi, Edo, Kogi and Cross River, while week 27 cases were recorded in Ondo, Edo, Benue, Bauchi and Kogi states.
It explained that: “For week 27, the country recorded 936 confirmed cases and 224 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 23.9 percent, also higher than the 18.9 percent reported during the corresponding period in 2025.”
The Centre said 23 states had recorded at least one confirmed Lassa fever case, with the disease spreading across 113 local government areas in week 27 and increasing to 114 in week 28, noting also that the majority of confirmed infections remained concentrated in Bauchi, Ondo, Taraba, Benue and Edo, accounting for 85 percent of cases in week 27 and 86 percent in week 28.
Further highlighting that people aged between 21 and 30 years remained the most affected age group, the report indicated the continued impact of the disease on young adults, just as it also revealed that no healthcare worker was infected during week 27.
However, the report showed that there was an unfortunate case in week 28 where one healthcare worker contracted the disease and appropriately responded to treatment.
While tasking members of the public on continued surveillance, early case detection, prompt treatment, strict infection prevention and control measures, the NCDC canvassed sustained community engagement and awareness to reduce transmission and prevent further deaths from Lassa fever. – Additional reports from NAN
