Lassa Fever Case Fatality Rate Reaches 18%

Despite extensive efforts, the Federal Republic of Nigeria continues to confront an expanding Lassa fever outbreak in 2024, reporting new cases and deaths.

Throughout 2024, Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) confirmed 682 cases and 128 deaths, which is a Lassa fever case fatality rate of 18.8%, far exceeding the rate recorded in 2023.

The report identified 62% of confirmed cases originating from Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi states.

The NCDC wrote in 2023 that annual outbreaks of Lassa fever also involved infection and death of healthcare workers. This loss of life is not just a statistic but a significant loss of a loved family member, a spouse, a parent, and often a seasoned healthcare worker and team member. This exacerbates the challenge of insufficient human resources for health in the country.'

As of March 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency had not approved a Lassa fever virus vaccine candidate.

However, four vaccine candidates (INO-4500, MV-LASV, rVSV∆G-LASV-GPC, and EBS-LASV) have entered the clinical clinical stage.

Without an available vaccine, the U.S. CDC says the risk of Lassa virus infection is associated with peridomestic rodent exposure, where inappropriate food storage increases the risk.

The CDC says people should practice safe food precautions and avoid handling, cooking, or eating raw or undercooked meat or animal products.