Nigeria activates emergency response as Lassa fever kills 190 this year

24/12/2024 8:17

Nigeria has launched an emergency response centre after recording 190 deaths from Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness, the country's disease

control agency said on Monday.



The disease, mainly transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or excrement, has infected 1,154 people in six Nigerian states.



Jide Idris, head of the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC), said the agency’s risk assessment has categorized it as high, prompting the activation of the emergency Operations Centre to manage the outbreak.