The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed that Taraba State currently leads in fatalities from Lassa fever in 2025, with 34 reported deaths out of 138 recorded nationwide.

This was contained in the latest situation report published by the NCDC on Wednesday, covering cases from January 1 to May 4, 2025.

According to the agency, a total of 717 confirmed cases of Lassa fever have been recorded from 4,881 suspected cases across 93 local government areas in 18 states.

The deaths were reported in 15 states: Taraba (34), Ondo (27), Edo (19), Bauchi (15), Ebonyi (11), Gombe (seven), Plateau (five), Benue (five), Kogi (four), Nasarawa (four), Delta (two), Kaduna (two), Ogun (one), Enugu (one), and Cross River (one).

The overall Case Fatality Rate (CFR) stands at 19.3 per cent, which the NCDC noted is slightly higher than the CFR for the same period in 2024 (18.0 per cent).

“In week 18, the number of new confirmed cases decreased from 11 in epi week 17, of 2025, to 10. These were reported in Ondo, Edo, Bauchi and Benue States,” the report stated.

It added that 71 per cent of all confirmed Lassa fever cases this year were reported from Ondo, Bauchi and Taraba States, with Ondo accounting for 30 per cent of the total, Bauchi 25 per cent, and Taraba 16 per cent. The remaining 28 per cent of cases were distributed across 15 other states.

The report highlighted that the predominant age group affected is 21–30 years, with a range from one to 96 years.

The median age of confirmed cases is 30 years, and the male-to-female ratio is 1:0.8.

“No new healthcare worker was affected in the reporting week 18,” the NCDC stated.

It also confirmed that the National Lassa Fever Multi-Partner, Multi-Sectoral Incident Management System remains active and continues to coordinate response efforts across all levels.