Suspected Lassa Fever Claims Four Lives in Nasarawa

Igbawase Ukumba in lafia

Four persons including two pregnant women have been confirmed dead from suspected cases of Lassa Fever in Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Following the development, the General Hospital in Awe has been shut down, while health workers, including the Medical Superintendent, have been placed in isolation.

From December 20, 2025, through January 2026, fear and apprehension gripped residents and health workers in Awe Local Government Area following suspected and confirmed cases of Lassa Fever in some communities, including Tunga.
Speaking with THISDAY, the Disease Surveillance Officer in Awe, Mallam Ahmad Yahuza Abdullahi, explained that the tension began when a woman was brought to a health facility in Awe with symptoms suspected to be Lassa Fever and died shortly before receiving medical care.

He said that a few days later, the woman’s husband also died after presenting similar symptoms.
Yahuza identified poor handling of suspected cases as one of the major challenges confronting health workers in managing disease outbreaks.
He revealed that some suspected patients who were conveyed to Lafia for isolation reportedly escaped, further heightening tension in the area.

“None of the Disease Surveillance Officers across the 13 Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State has been provided with motorcycles by the government, which is affecting prompt response to remote areas. The state government sent an ambulance to Awe to convey six suspected cases for isolation in Lafia, but they were allowed to escape even before the laboratory test results were released,” Yahuza maintained.

Also speaking, a nurse at the Awe General Hospital, Mr. Ovey Polycarp, who attended to the two deceased pregnant women, called for the urgent provision of protective kits for health workers to help curb the spread of the disease.

“The two women were brought to the hospital almost at the same time with symptoms resembling malaria, but their conditions deteriorated to bleeding and haemorrhage, which led to their deaths. We are living in fear because we do not have protective equipment to manage the outbreak,” he lamented.

Reacting to the situation, the Director of Public Health at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Dr. Peter Attah, stated that only one confirmed case of Lassa Fever has been recorded in Awe Local Government Area. He added that the patient died before the laboratory result was released.

At the time of filing this report, the whereabouts of the six suspected cases who reportedly escaped from the isolation centre in Lafia remained unknown, while fumigation was ongoing at the General Hospital in Awe.