The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has declared the emergency phase of the 2020 Lassa fever outbreak over.

This is following a successive decline in cases below the emergency threshold, and an epidemiological review carried out by NCDC and the World Health Organisation (WHO).


On the 24th of January 2020, NCDC declared a Lassa fever outbreak and activated a national Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

This was in response to an increase in Lassa fever cases at the beginning of the year, exceeding the threshold for an outbreak.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, 979 confirmed cases including 188 deaths have been recorded from 27 States including the Federal Capital Territory as at 19th of April 2020. The Lassa fever case count has significantly declined in the last three weeks and has now dropped below levels considered to be a national emergency.

In the last four months, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Response have led Lassa fever response activities across the country. This was done in close collaboration with State Ministries of Health, and with support from partners coordinated by WHO.