Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025316 (Poster 070) | Published: 01 Aug 2025
Danny Akhere Asogun1,&, Bosede Elizabeth Arogundade2, Faith Huemomen Unuabonah3, Kemi Elizabeth Olugbenro4, Deborah Ehichioya5
1Dept of Community medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo-state, Nigeria, 2Dept of Planning, Research & Statistics, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Abuja, Nigeria, 3Dept of Medical lab science, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo-state, Nigeria, 4Dept of Medical microbiology, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo-state, Nigeria, 5Dept of Virology, Bernhard Nocth Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
&Corresponding author: Danny Akhere Asogun, Dept of Community Medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. Email: dannyasogun@aauekpoma.edu.ng
Received: 30 Apr 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 01 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever Epidemic, Surveillance, Research, Vaccine, Nigeria, West Africa
©Danny Akhere Asogun et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Danny Akhere Asogun et al., Lassa fever epidemic in West Africa: Past and current responses. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00214. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00214
Lassa fever (LF), caused by the Lassa virus (LASV), remains a significant public health challenge in West Africa since its first identification in Nigeria in 1969. Countries such as Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Togo, and Benin Republic report several cases annually. With case fatality rate (CFR) ranging from 17.4% in community settings to 60% during hospital-based outbreaks, its severe complications and nosocomial infections place immense burden on healthcare systems.
This narrative review is based on peer-reviewed literature, public health reports, and organizational updates on research to examine the strategies used historically and currently to combat LF. The review focuses on the evidence of the six most affected countries and looks at the advancements in the field of epidemiology, new diagnostic methods, treatment, and vaccine development.
Major findings indicate the increase of case detection and reporting, the decrease of CFR, and the development of diagnostic capacity. The clinical trials on therapeutics and vaccine candidates have been facilitated by national and international partnerships as well as investment in infrastructure.
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