article · Scientific Reports
Lassa fever remains a persistent public health threat across Nigeria, driven by zoonotic spillover from rodents to humans. A review of national data from 2020 to 2023 identified 28,780 suspected cases, 4,036 confirmed cases, and 762 deaths across 34 states, representing a case fatality rate of 18.9 percent. Alongside this epidemiological data, a cross-sectional survey of 2,150 individuals evaluated public awareness and risk perception. Although 87.5 percent had heard of the disease, over 35 percent of those aware displayed poor understanding of prevention, transmission, and control measures. Tertiary education strongly correlated with improved knowledge and reduced infection risk, while residing in low-burden states aligned with lower risk perception. The findings highlight persistent vulnerability due to rodent presence and food contamination concerns, calling for enhanced diagnostic capacity, One Health interventions, and targeted public awareness campaigns.
Lassa fever causes substantial mortality across West Africa through recurrent outbreaks. Understanding public knowledge gaps, rodent exposure risks, and regional differences in risk perception helps public health authorities direct limited resources efficiently. These insights are essential for designing targeted educational initiatives, establishing better infection prevention protocols, and mitigating zoonotic transmission risks within vulnerable communities.
The abstract outlines the need for improved diagnostic capacity, public enlightenment campaigns, and One Health control strategies, but it does not evaluate specific products or technologies. It serves as early-stage epidemiological and behavioural research that could inform public health organisations or diagnostic developers seeking operational deployment contexts, though no clear direct commercial application pathway is indicated.
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Annual outbreaks of Lassa fever have resulted in a public health threat in Nigeria and other endemic countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the Lassa Virus (LASV) is endemic in rodent populations, zoonotic spillover to humans causes annual outbreaks. This study reviewed the burden of Lassa fever (LF) in Nigeria between 2020 and 2023 and conducted a cross-sectional survey of Nigerians to evaluate their risk perceptions of LF. During the period under review, 28,780 suspected and 4,036 confirmed cases of LF were reported from 34 of the 37 states of Nigeria. These cases resulted in 762 deaths (a CFR of 18.9%). The overall case positivity rate was 14% (4,036/28,780), with more positive cases in 2020 (17.5%, n = 1,189/6,791). A total of 2,150 study participants were enrolled in the prospective cross-sectional study, with most of them (87.5%, n = 1,881/2,150) having previously heard of Lassa fever (LF). The numerical scoring system revealed that 35.43% (n = 762/1,881) of those aware of LF have poor knowledge of its preventive measures, route of transmission, and control measures. Approximately 6.84% (n = 147/2,150) of them were at a high risk of contracting LF, with 27.6% (n = 584/2,150) of study participants feeling concerned about contracting LF because of the presence of rodents in their immediate vicinity, occupational exposure to healthcare workers, and the probability of contamination of food by infected rodents without necessary food safety measures. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that tertiary education was associated with an increased likelihood of better LF knowledge (OR: 17.32; 95% CI: 10.62, 28.26; p < 0.01) and a lower risk of contracting LF when compared to respondents with no formal education. In addition, study participants who reside in low-burden states have lower LF perception than those residents in high-LF-burden states (OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.38-0.91; p = 0.049). On the other hand, study participants with poor risk perception (knowledge) of LF had a higher likelihood (RR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.53; p < 0.01) of contracting LF when compared to those with good knowledge of LF. Similarly, those residents in low LF burden states were less likely (OR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.05,0.17; p < 0.01) to contract LF when compared to those residents in high burden states. There is a need to improve LF diagnostics capacity, infection prevention and control measures, and implementation of the One Health approach to controlling LASV from animal reservoirs. In addition, public enlightenment campaigns to address fundamental knowledge gaps are crucial to mitigating the ongoing and future impact of LF in Nigeria.
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DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-78726-3
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