‘Despite lessons from Ebola, COVID-19, Nigeria not ready to handle Lassa’

Despite lessons from the Ebola and COVID-19 pandemics, Nigeria’s readiness for an outbreak of diseases such as Lassa Fever is yet to meet internationally-accepted standards, an expert has said.

Ngozi Toby, a medical expert in Rivers State, speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on Lassa Fever in Port Harcourt recently, said while other countries had developed robust containment frameworks for infectious diseases, Nigeria still treats Lassa Fever as an afterthought.

In early 2023, Nigeria reported 4,702 suspected cases of Lassa fever, 5 probable cases, and 877 confirmed cases, with 152 deaths, reflecting a case fatality rate of 17% and a 20% increase in confirmed cases compared to the same period in 2022, according to a United Nations report.

Rivers State was among the worst hit in 2024, with confirmed cases reported in multiple local government areas.

Toby, while speaking with BusinessDay on the dangers, awareness and remedies for Lassa fever, directly blamed the lack of commitment from Nigeria’s healthcare policy makers for its persistent presence.

She stressed that despite its annual outbreaks, especially during the dry season (November and April), it continues to kill Nigerians silently and steadily, and without containment.

Read also: Expert blames faulty policy for Nigeria’s ‘endless Lassa fever crisis’

Toby noted that many frontline health workers see Lassa fever as a neglected epidemic, adding that the absence of structured prevention, poor funding of isolation centres, and a lack of community-based surveillance had worsened the situation.

Lassa Fever is a viral hemorrhagic illness endemic to West Africa, especially Nigeria. It is transmitted primarily through contact with urine or feces of infected multi-mammal rats, or human body fluids

Toby argued that if Lassa Fever is killing political elites the way it kills rural Nigerians, emergency protocols would have been triggered long ago.

“It is a glaring example of how poverty-driven diseases are routinely ignored. Frequent misdiagnosis, lack of diagnostic facilities in most states, and poor disease literacy among rural dwellers fuel the spread. Lassa fever is often mistaken for malaria or typhoid until it is too late.

“Lassa Fever is not just a virus, it is a mirror of Nigeria’s healthcare negligence. It thrives on areas of poor sanitation, rodent infestations, and public misinformation, conditions, Nigeria has failed to improve. Lassa Fever has become a seasonal punishment for being poor and unprotected in Nigeria’s rural zones,” she said.