ABUJA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria will check the spread of Lassa fever across the country with a vaccine, health minister Isaac Adewole said on Monday.
Adewole said the vaccine will soon be received by Nigeria, but declined to give details of where it is coming from.
"We are doing everything possible to fight and address the outbreak of Lassa fever on all fronts," the minister told reporters in Abuja.
Nigeria's Lassa fever outbreak reached a record high last week, resulting in 72 deaths and 317 laboratory-confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The acute viral hemorrhagic fever has been reported in 18 states since the first case was detected on Jan. 1.
Three southern states, Edo, Ondo, and Ebonyi, have been the most affected, reporting 85 percent of the cases, the WHO said, quoting the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
Humans usually become infected with the Lassa virus from exposure to urine or feces of infected mastomys rats. Other than common preventive measures such as washing hands regularly, the WHO is also recommending keeping cats.
Lassa fever is endemic to several west African countries. Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone also reported cases in the past month.
