Between January and April 6, 2025, 674 confirmed Lassa fever cases out of 4,025 suspected cases were reported by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 18 states and 93 local government areas.
The NCDC revealed this in its most recent situation report on Tuesday.
With a case fatality rate of 18.8%, the nation has so far reported 127 fatalities.
Ondo (26), Bauchi (12), Edo (17), Taraba (31), Ebonyi (11), Kogi (four), and Plateau (five) are the states with the highest number of recorded death cases.
The others are Ogun (one), Delta (one), Cross-River (one), Kaduna (two), Gombe (seven), Benue (four), Nasarawa (four), and Enugu (one).
The Lassa virus is the cause of Lassa fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic illness.
The multimammate rat, sometimes referred to as the African rat, is the virus’s natural reservoir, however other rodents may also serve as carriers.
“The number of new confirmed cases increased from 14 in epi week 13 of 2025 to 15 in week 14,” the report stated in part. In the states of Ondo, Bauchi, Edo, Taraba, Ebonyi, and Gombe, these were reported. A total of 127 deaths with a CFR of 18.8% were reported in week 14, 2025; this is higher than the CFR for the same week in 2024 (18.5%).
18 States have reported at least one confirmed occurrence across 93 lgas in total for 2025. These three states (Ondo, Bauchi, and Edo) accounted for 71% of all confirmed Lassa fever cases, whereas 15 states reported 28% of confirmed Lassa fever cases. Ondo reported 30% of the 71% confirmed cases, followed by Bauchi at 25% and Edo at 16%.
The age range that is most impacted is 21–30 years old (median age: 30 years, range: 1–94 years). For confirmed cases, the male-to-female ratio is 1:0.8.
According to the study, there were fewer suspected instances than during the same time period in 2024, and no new healthcare workers were impacted during reporting week 14.
In order to coordinate the response efforts at every level, it also stated that the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Incident Management System has been launched.
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