As novel coronavirus becomes a trending issue worldwide, the disease it is not the only pandemic bedeviling the country, 28 new cases of lassa fever recorded and reportedly killed three people.
Coronavirus pandemic is not the only disease the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has been battling to contain in Nigeria.
The NCDC said on Thursday that Nigeria has recorded three more deaths from the lassa fever outbreak, raising the total number of deaths in 2020 to 176.
After 28 new cases were recorded, the states in Nigeria with highest new confirmed cases are Edo (eight) and Ondo (five). The new cases have now taken the number of infected persons across 27 out of 36 states of the country to 932.
Lassa fever is transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or faeces. Its symptoms include high fever, sore throat, nausea and general weakness.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in December, half a million people have been infected globally while at least 23,500 have died from the disease.
As of Thursday night, 65 persons in Nigeria have been infected with the virus, which has led to the death of one person and grounded economic activities across the country.
While Nigerians hope that the NCDC does not get overwhelmed by the coronavirus as number of infected persons increases by the day, they also hope that lassa fever endemic does not get out of hand.
