Ondo, Bauchi, the top list of Edo as a case of Lassa’s fever rose to 822 in July’25

Nigeria has recorded 822 confirmed Lassa fever cases and 155 deaths in the first seven months of 2025, according to the new number released by the Nigerian Disease Control and Prevention Center (NCDC).

Data, which includes a period from January 1 to July 2025 (epidemiological week 29), highlighted the increase in case death rates (CFR), now at 18.9%, compared to 17.1% during the same period last year.

“On the 29th week, the number of new cases confirmed was the same as Epi Week 28 of 2025. This was reported in the state of Ondo and Edo,” NCDC reported.

Since the beginning of this year, Nigeria has seen a total of 6,640 alleged cases of this disease, with 21 states and 105 regional regions reported at least one confirmed case. The majority of infections – 89% – come from five states: Ondo (32%), Bauchi (23%), Edo (17%), Taraba (14%), and Ebonyi (3%). The remaining 11% of cases are spread across 16 other states.

NCDC also noted: “Cumulative on week 29, 2025, 155 deaths have been reported with a case of 18.9 percent case, which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2024 (17.1 percent).”

Lassa Fever, acute virus disease caused by the Lassa virus, remains a major public health problem in Nigeria and other West African countries. According to the World Health Organization, this virus is endemic in Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone – and may be in more in West African countries.

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Who explains that: “Lassa virus is mainly transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or feces. Transmission of people can also occur, especially in regulating health care that has no adequate infection prevention and control steps.”

Demographic analysis shows that the age group most influenced by Lassa fever in Nigeria this year is 21-30 years, with patients ranging from ages 1 to 96 years. The average age is 30, and the male-female ratio among confirmed cases is 1: 0.8.

The encouraging, NCDC recorded a decrease in cases suspected and confirmed compared to the same period in 2024 and confirmed that: “No new health care workers are affected on the week of reporting 29.”

The agency said Multi-Partner Lassa Fever National, a multi-sectoral technical working group continued to coordinate response efforts at all levels to manage the outbreak.