{"id":8214,"date":"2018-03-03T20:25:51","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T03:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/?post_type=news&p=8214"},"modified":"2018-03-03T20:25:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T03:25:51","slug":"lassa-fever-death-toll-in-2018-reaches-72-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/news\/lassa-fever-death-toll-in-2018-reaches-72-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Lassa fever: Death toll in 2018 reaches 72 in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Nigeria is suffering its worst outbreak of Lassa fever, the World Health Organization (WHO<\/span>) as local health officials said 72 people had died since the start of this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lassa fever, named after the town in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969, is endemic but the number of confirmed cases \u201chas never reached\u201d this level before, it added.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria\u2019s Lassa fever outbreak has reached record highs, with 317 laboratory confirmed cases,\u201d the WHO<\/span> said in a statement, quoting figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC<\/span>).<\/p>\n

On February 6, 31 people were reported to have died from the disease, which is caused by a virus of the same family as Marburg and Ebola.<\/p>\n

But in an update, the NCDC<\/span> said: \u201cSince the onset of the 2018, 325 cases have been classified as: 317 confirmed cases, eight probable cases with 72 deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourteen health workers have been affected by the virus in six states.<\/p>\n

The WHO<\/span> said a total of 2,845 people who have come into contact with patients have been identified and were being monitored.<\/p>\n

Worst-hit by the virus is Edo state, in the south, where Crusoe Osagie, a media aide to the state government, said mostly rural areas were affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdo state is the only state with Lagos to have a special treating hospital for this disease, which is in Irrua,\u201d he told AFP<\/span>. \u201cPeople come here from all over. \u201d<\/p>\n

The federal-owned facility usually deals with about a hundred cases each year but has already handled that number in the last two months, he added.<\/p>\n

WHO<\/span> said it was supporting the NCDC<\/span> effort to contain the disease and treat those affected in treatment centres across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to rapidly detect cases of infection in the community and refer them early for treatment improves patients\u2019 chances of survival and is critical to this response,\u201d said the world body\u2019s representative in Nigeria, Wondimagegnehu Alemu.<\/p>\n

Lassa fever is spread through contact with food or items contaminated with rats\u2019 urine or faeces or after coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.<\/p>\n

It can be prevented by enhanced hygiene and avoidance of all contact with rats.<\/p>\n

More than 100 people were killed in 2016 in an outbreaks affecting 14 of the 36 states, including Lagos and the capital Abuja.<\/p>\n

AfricaNews<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigeria is suffering its worst outbreak of Lassa fever, the World Health Organization (WHO) as local health officials said 72 people had died since the start of this year. Lassa fever, named after the town in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969, is endemic but the number of confirmed cases \u201chas never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[327],"news-category":[318],"class_list":["post-8214","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","tag-lassa","news-category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nLassa fever: Death toll in 2018 reaches 72 in Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lassa fever: Death toll in 2018 reaches 72 in Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/news\/lassa-fever-death-toll-in-2018-reaches-72-in-nigeria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lassa 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