By Haruna Gimba
The Lassa fever outbreak in the country has killed 101 people, according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Statistics released by NCDC showed that, reported cases of the hemorrhagic disease confirmed and suspected stood at 175 with a total of 101 deaths since August.
A statement by NCDC said as at today, 19 states and Abuja are currently following up contacts or have suspected cases with laboratory results pending or laboratory confirmed cases.
Although the Federal Ministry of Health had said the virus had been brought under control, there are fears the actual scale of the outbreak is under-reported.
The NCDC said officials have distributed large quantities of drugs, including Ribavirin tablets and bottles of hand sanitizers across the country to tackle the disease.
“However, logistics support and delayed reporting of cases by states are dogging the fight against Lassa fever and the outbreak was only announced in January, months after the first case occurred in August, with subsequent deaths reported in 10 states, including Abuja,” the statement read.
According to the NCDC report, last year 12 people died in Nigeria out of 375 infected while in 2012 there were 1,723 cases and 112 deaths.
