The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has identified Ondo, Bauchi and Edo states as the epicentres of the Lassa fever outbreak in the country.
Briefing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, Dr Jide Idris, Director-General of NCDC, said the mentioned states accounted for over 70 per cent of all confirmed cases reported so far in 2025.
Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted primarily through contact with the urine or faeces of infected rats.
It can also spread from person to person through bodily fluids, contaminated objects or infected medical equipment.
Symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, muscle pain, and in severe cases, bleeding from body openings.
Idris said that the three states contributed 71 per cent of the 660 confirmed Lassa fever cases recorded between January and the end of March 2025, with Ondo accounting for 30 per cent, Bauchi 25 per cent, and Edo 16 per cent.
The director general said that the NCDC had intensified a nationwide multi-sectoral response through its activated Incident Management System at the national level to coordinate the public health emergency across affected states.
“As the cases surge in these epicentre states, our response is focused on early detection, case management, risk communication, and community engagement.
“The transmission remains active in multiple local government areas, with 28 states and 125 LGAs affected this year,” he said.
Idris also said that 122 deaths had so far been recorded, resulting in a case fatality rate of 18.5 per cent—higher than the 17.5 per cent recorded during the same period in 2024.
To combat the spread, he said, that the NCDC has deployed National Rapid Response Teams to hotspot areas, trained healthcare workers on infection prevention and control, and scaled up community sensitisation.
