Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025227 (Poster 130) | Published: 07 Aug 2025
Kingsley Ugochukwu Dike&1,2,&, Shamsu Munzali1, Ehichioya Ofeimun1, Zuwaira Mohammed3, Celestine Ameh3, Emmanuel Omomoh4, Oladipo Ogunbode1
1Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program Abuja Nigeria, 2Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Abuja Nigeria, 3Nigerian Red Cross Jalingo Taraba State, 4African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
&Corresponding author: Kingsley Ugochukwu Dike, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Abuja, Nigeria. Email: kingsley.dike@ncdc.gov.ng
Received: 27 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 07 Aug /2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, determinants, residents, Taraba, Nigeria
©Kingsley Ugochukwu Dike 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: Kingsley Ugochukwu Dike et al., Determinants of the 2025 Lassa fever outbreak among residents in selected local government areas in Taraba State, Nigeria: A mixed-methods epidemiological investigation. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00274. https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph-confpro5-00274
A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight randomly selected local government areas. A validated structured questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data from 238 respondents, 26 of whom were LF patients chosen by simple random sampling. Two focused group discussions (LF cases and non-cases) were conveniently scheduled, and determinants of the infection transmission were inquired about. The qualitative data was examined using thematic analysis.
The study observed a higher presence of rats in households (212, [89%]) compared with absence of rats in the homes (26, [11%]) (p = 0.748). Other environmental factors that were found to be higher than the absence of these factors included the use of poison to kill the rats (215, [90%]), open dumping of waste (144, [61%]), sun-drying food products 4 (90%), and daily cleaning of the environment (216, [91%]) (p > 0.05). The percentage of those with refuse bins in their homes was greater (185, [78%]) compared to those without it (p=0.005). The behavioural practices of handwashing before eating (224, [94%]) and storing food in the homes (159, [67%]) were more practiced (p > 0.05). The habit of leaving food uncovered (127, [53%]) and the use of sack bags to store food (159 [67%]) were more common (p < 0.05). The interviews conducted pointed out varied means of infection transmission among the residents.
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