Death toll from Lassa fever outbreak rises to 110

110 persons have been confirmed dead since the outbreak of the deadly Lassa fever in Nigeria this year. This is according to the latest report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.
“Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 110 deaths: 78 in positive-confirmed cases, 8 in probable cases and 24 in negative cases,” the NCDC said in its latest report.

The report states that Lassa fever cases have been reported in 18 states while 16 health workers had been affected in six states.

Lassa fever belongs to the same family as Marburg and Ebola, two deadly viruses that lead to infections with fever, vomiting and in worst-case scenarios, haemorrhagic bleeding. The name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
The virus is spread through contact with food or household items contaminated with rats’ urine or faeces or after coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

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