The Benue State government has reported 243 suspected cases of Lassa fever since January 2025, resulting in 13 deaths. Providing an update, the State Epidemiologist, Dr. Asema Msuega, confirmed that 18 of the cases were verified through laboratory testing.
Explaining further, he said, “Probable deaths are deaths of persons suspected to have Lassa fever disease, and before a sample could be taken, they died, eight in number, bringing the total death rate to 13.” Of the fatalities recorded, one was a health worker.
Dr. Msuega added that in August 2025, the state’s Ministry of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO), launched a community intervention project in areas identified as Lassa fever hotspots. The initiative centred on rodent control measures, environmental sanitation, and clean-up exercises, extending also to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, with the goal of reducing the transmission of the disease.
He said, “We also carried out community engagement and sensitisation, as well as the training of community health workers on case management and referral pathways”
