Lassa fever has killed 154 persons across 26 states since the beginning of this year, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said.

In a situation report released yesterday, the agency said in total, 897 confirmed cases and 4,908 suspected cases of the disease were recorded within the period.

The states include Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Kogi, Taraba, Gombe, Enugu, Kano, Jigawa, Oyo and FCT, among others.

The report said, "Cumulatively, from week 1 to week 16, 2023, 154 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 17.2% which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2022 (18.6%).

"In total, for 2023, 26 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 103 Local Government Areas ."

It said 72% of all confirmed Lassa fever cases were reported from these three states Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi while 28% were reported from 23 states with confirmed Lassa fever cases.

The report said that the number of suspected cases increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2022.

It said no new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 16 , adding that the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre activated to coordinate the response activities at all levels.