Nigeria On ‘A Very High Risk Of Increased Lassa Fever Transmission’

<h4>Nigeria On &OpenCurlyQuote;A Very High Risk Of Increased Lassa Fever<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention &lpar;NCDC&rpar; has activated the national multisectoral Emergency Operations Centre for Lassa Fever &lpar;LF-EOC&rpar; at level 2 to coordinate and strengthen ongoing response activities in the country&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The LF-EOC was activated following a risk assessment carried out on the 20th of January 2023 by subject matter experts from the NCDC&comma; relevant Ministries&comma; Departments&comma; and Agencies &lpar;MDAs&rpar;&comma; stakeholders and major partners&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The outcome of the risk assessment placed the country at a very high risk of increased Lassa fever transmission due to an unprecedented upward trend in the number of confirmed cases being reported compared to previous years&semi; increased number of states reporting cases in comparison to previous years and increased risk of healthcare worker infections and deaths due to Lassa fever infection&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The situation report of 22nd January 2023&comma; showed a total of 244 confirmed cases with 37 deaths and a case fatality rate of 15&period;1 &percnt; from 16 states and the FCT &&num;8211&semi; Ondo &lpar;90&rpar;&comma; Edo &lpar;89&rpar;&comma; Bauchi &lpar;13&rpar;&comma; Taraba &lpar;10&rpar;&comma; Benue &lpar;9&rpar;&comma; Ebonyi &lpar;9&rpar;&comma; Nasarawa &lpar;7&rpar;&comma; Plateau &lpar;5&rpar;&comma; Kogi &lpar;4&rpar;&comma; Anambra &lpar;2&rpar;&comma; Delta &lpar;1&rpar;&comma; Oyo &lpar;1&rpar;&comma; Adamawa &lpar;1&rpar;&comma; Enugu &lpar;1&rpar;&comma; Imo &lpar;1&rpar;&comma; and FCT &lpar;1&rpar;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Infection and death among the healthcare workers accounted for 5 and 1 of the of the confirmed cases and deaths respectively highlighting the need for an increased index of suspicion among healthcare workers&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The purpose of EOC activation is to achieve a coordinated national response and especially across the affected states to interrupt disease transmission&comma; reduce the impact of the disease by reducing suffering and death <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">&lpar;morbidity and mortality&rpar;<&sol;a>&comma; and other socioeconomic complications of this disease&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Healthcare is a collective responsibility of communities and governments at all levels&period; While the NCDC is mandated to lead the prevention&comma; emergency preparedness&comma; and response to public health emergencies&comma; we rely on the cooperation and support of States in the development and implementation of evidence-driven outbreak response plans for their territories&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Prior to the activation of EOC&comma; the Nigerian government through NCDC&&num;8217&semi;s multisectoral Lassa Fever Technical Working Group &lpar;TWG&rpar; had put the following measures in place to respond to the rising cases of Lassa fever&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Support Lassa fever response management<br &sol;>&NewLine;The deployment of national rapid response teams &lpar;NRRT&rpar; to hotspot states to support contact tracing&comma; case management&comma; risk communication and community engagement&comma; among others&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Development of a national Incident Action Plan &lpar;IAP&rpar; to ensure coordinated response at all levels&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Deployment of Surge staff for Lassa fever case management<br &sol;>&NewLine;Ahead of the projected rise of Lassa fever cases and as the country began to witness a rise in cases in the last week on November 2022&comma; the NCDC prepositioned supplies for case management&comma; infection prevention and control&comma; laboratory diagnosis&comma; etc&period; in all historical Lassa fever hotspots in the country&period; This was complemented by correspondence sent to the Honourable Commissioners of Health&comma; the Nigerian Governors’ Forum&comma; State Ministries of Health&comma; and respective professional bodies of healthcare workers to alert and sensitize them on the situation as well as to advocate for in-State activities to respond to Lassa fever&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>Source&colon; Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention&comma;NCDC<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;