Nigeria is bracing itself from the discovery of a more deadlier virus than Coronavirus.

But the coronavirus is not the only viral outbreak in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria is currently dealing with what is turning out to be the world’s largest epidemic of Lassa fever, a viral disease deadlier than coronavirus.

Lassa fever is a severe viral hemorrhagic fever like Ebola that occurs throughout the year in Nigeria and was declared an “active outbreak” by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) five weeks into 2020.

The epidemic which occurs during the annual dry season (roughly November through March) has spread across half the country.

The Lassa fever virus is transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated with urine and feces of a rat.

It’s also known to spread from person-to-person through contact with the body fluids and organs of infected persons, which has resulted in healthcare workers easily getting infected, some have died.

The epidemic, whose rapid escalation started right from the second week of the year, had by the end of the ninth week seen 774 cases and 132 deaths spread across 26 of Nigeria’s 36 states and the federal capital territory.

Tweets from the NCDC’s twitter handle suggests recent online publicity is focused more on the coronavirus epidemic despite the reports of an unprecedented Lassa fever epidemic in the country.

“The international health agency and media deserve to give more attention to coronavirus considering its propensity for a pandemic,” says Dr. Adewumi. “LFV is our local problem in this part of the continent, hence, it is our responsibility to ensure the epidemic is controlled,” he said.

Source: Quartz Africa