Nigeria Recorded 1,086 Lassa Fever Cases, 259 Deaths Through September 6 — NCDC
Nigeria recorded 1,086 confirmed cases of Lassa fever and 259 deaths from the beginning of 2026 through epidemiological Week 36, which ended on September 6, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The figures put the case-fatality rate among confirmed cases at 23.9 per cent for the period covered by the report.
NCDC said confirmed infections had been recorded across 24 states and 118 local government areas.
The figures are a dated surveillance position and should not be read as Nigeria’s current Lassa fever totals. NCDC has since listed a Week 37 situation report, but IDNN has not independently verified the numerical table in that newer report.
Five states account for most confirmed cases
NCDC said 87 per cent of confirmed cases were reported from Ondo, Bauchi, Taraba, Edo and Benue states.
According to the Week 36 report, Ondo accounted for 34 per cent of confirmed cases, Bauchi 24 per cent, Taraba 12 per cent, Edo 11 per cent and Benue 6 per cent.
The concentration shows that the national burden was not evenly distributed.
That matters for treatment capacity, surveillance and prevention because states carrying a larger share of confirmed infections face greater pressure to identify cases early, trace exposure and ensure access to appropriate care.
Twelve confirmed cases recorded during Week 36
During epidemiological Week 36 itself, NCDC recorded 12 confirmed cases and one death among confirmed cases.
Those weekly figures should not, by themselves, be interpreted as evidence that the outbreak was accelerating or declining.
A reliable trend assessment requires comparison across equivalent reporting periods and consideration of the agency’s newer surveillance data.
Why the fatality rate matters
A 23.9 per cent case-fatality rate means nearly one in four confirmed cases recorded during the reporting period resulted in death.
That does not mean one in four people exposed to Lassa fever died.
The figure applies specifically to confirmed cases recorded by the surveillance system.
Differences in how quickly patients seek treatment, when infections are diagnosed, access to specialist care and the severity of individual cases can affect outcomes.
For households, the practical consequence is that delayed diagnosis and treatment can carry serious risk.
A surveillance story, not just a national number
The national totals provide one measure of the outbreak, but confirmed infections across 118 local government areas also make this a state and community-level public-health issue.
State surveillance systems must identify suspected cases, laboratories must confirm infections, treatment centres must manage patients, and communities need reliable information on prevention and when to seek care.
The concentration of cases in Ondo, Bauchi, Taraba, Edo and Benue also raises an accountability question: whether surveillance, treatment access and prevention resources are keeping pace with the burden in the most affected states.
That remains a question for further reporting, not a finding that those systems have failed.
What remains to be updated
The Week 36 report provides the last numerical position independently verified by IDNN for this story.
A newer Week 37 NCDC report has been listed by the agency, but its figures have not yet been reconciled by IDNN.
For that reason, this report does not describe the Week 36 numbers as Nigeria’s latest Lassa fever toll and does not infer whether infections or deaths have since risen or fallen.
The next material update will be the verified Week 37 national position, including any change in confirmed cases, deaths, case-fatality rate and geographic distribution.
