Lassa fever outbreak has claimed at least 31 lives in the first five weeks of 2026, with 754 suspected cases reported across nine states, health officials said Monday, as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control ramps up emergency response measures.
The acute viral haemorrhagic illness, transmitted primarily through contact with the urine or faeces of infected rats, continues to pose a significant public health threat in West Africa, with person-to-person and laboratory transmissions also possible in under-equipped healthcare settings.
According to the NCDC, 92 per cent of confirmed cases originated from five states — Bauchi, Ondo, Taraba, Edo and Plateau — while the remaining eight per cent were spread across four others. A total of 135 confirmed patients are currently receiving treatment at designated centres, and 110 suspected cases are under contact tracing.
Nine health workers have so far been affected in the outbreak, underscoring risks to frontline personnel amid inadequate infection prevention protocols.
The NCDC has activated its national emergency operations centre, deployed rapid response teams to high-burden areas like Bauchi State and strengthened laboratory diagnostics to accelerate case detection.
The World Health Organisation warned that “person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in healthcare settings in the absence of adequate infection prevention and control measures.”
The agency has also pushed for dedicated budget lines to sustain field operations, as recurring annual outbreaks since 2016 have strained the country’s already overstretched health system.
