NCDC Sounds Alarm As Health Workers Infected, Two Dead
Every outbreak leaves scars, but when the caregivers become the casualties, the system itself is in danger.
Nigeria’s Lassa fever season is exposing that fragile line, with health workers increasingly falling ill while doing their jobs.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has raised the alarm, urging all healthcare workers to heighten suspicion for Lassa fever and strictly enforce Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures amid the peak transmission season.
In an advisory dated 16 February 2026, the agency confirmed that 15 health workers have been infected and two have died so far this season, as of Epidemiological Week 7.
Cases have been recorded across multiple states, including Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, Ebonyi and Benue, with hotspots often emerging at local government level
The NCDC said investigations into each infected health worker reveal troubling gaps in IPC practices and a low index of suspicion, especially in outpatient departments and general wards where undiagnosed patients first present.
Non-clinical staff such as cleaners, porters and administrative workers are also at risk, while a dangerous trend of delayed care-seeking has emerged, with an average six-day gap between symptom onset and treatment, often linked to fear of stigma or self-medication.
Community exposure, including rodent infestation around homes, is compounding the risk.
The NCDC warned that infections commonly occur through contact with infected body fluids, poor hand hygiene, contaminated surfaces and delayed isolation of suspected cases.
It stressed that standard precautions must apply to every patient, at all times, from hand hygiene and appropriate PPE use to safe waste disposal and environmental cleaning.
To curb the outbreak, the agency has deployed rapid response teams to high-burden states, distributed PPE, issued state-specific advisories and intensified IPC sensitisation in treatment centres.
All suspected cases, it said, should be reported immediately via local Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers or the NCDC toll-free line 6232.
As Nigeria battles another Lassa fever season, the message from public health authorities is stark: protecting health workers is central to protecting the nation.
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