Plateau State has confirmed an outbreak of Lassa fever affecting seven local government areas, with 11 positive cases and four deaths recorded since December 2025.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Nicholas Baamlong, disclosed this during a press briefing on Saturday at the Ministry of Health in Jos, where he provided an update on the outbreak and the state’s response efforts.
“We were first alerted on December 20, 2025, following a case from the Quanpan Local Government Area, and immediately, we activated our incident management team,” Baamlong said.
He explained that two cases were initially confirmed, prompting extensive contact tracing.
According to the commissioner, the state has so far recorded 28 suspected cases, with six confirmed.
“At that time, we traced about 69 contacts, from which we recorded 16 suspected cases, and five were confirmed positive.
“This means that from December till now, we have confirmed eleven positive cases in Plateau State,” he said.
The commissioner noted that the outbreak has resulted in four deaths across major health facilities in the state.
He explained that one of the fatalities was a health worker.
“Sadly, we have recorded four deaths, two at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, one at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, and one at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital.
“One of the deaths is a medical practitioner who attended to an infected patient. As of today, another medical doctor is also on admission and receiving treatment,” Dr Baamlong disclosed.
Baamlong noted that 109 contacts are currently under follow-up, as health authorities intensify surveillance and response.
“What we are doing now is to continue active case search through surveillance and to deploy our rapid response teams to affected communities,” he said.
The affected local government areas are Quanpan, Shendam, Wase, Langtang South, Jos North, Jos South, and Mangu.
He stated that public enlightenment was critical to curbing the spread of the disease.
“We are commencing active public health enlightenment. This is very key so that we can address and suppress the transmission of this disease,” the commissioner said.
Baamlong also assured residents of the availability of treatment and protective materials.
“The drugs required for treatment, including personal protective equipment, have been distributed to health facilities and are currently available at the Jos University Teaching Hospital and the Plateau Specialist Hospital,” he said.
The health commissioner further called on residents to adhere strictly to preventive measures and to seek prompt medical attention when experiencing symptoms, noting that collective responsibility is essential to containing the outbreak.