ABUJA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has risen to 47, according to data by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on Thursday.
So far there have been 365 confirmed cases of the acute viral hemorrhagic fever which continues to spread in the most populous African country, the NCDC said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Abuja.
As of February 2, 104 new cases of the disease were recorded, bringing about the latest figure of the total confirmed cases.
Last week, the NCDC had reported that 41 deaths were confirmed from 19 out of the 36 states in the country since the beginning of the year.
But a total of 23 states have now been affected by the Lassa fever outbreak. Each of those 23 affected states has recorded at least one confirmed case so far this year, the NCDC said.
The majority of the cases were recorded in the southern states of Ebonyi, Edo, and Ondo.
The local disease control center said last week that five health workers were among the victims. A national emergency operation center has been activated to coordinate response activities nationwide.
