Lassa Is Running Very Hot This Year, In Nigeria -- Particularly. We Need An Approved Vaccine.

Just two mornings ago, we mentioned the scourge of Lassa fever, now wracking four or five West African nations. Today, the excellent Outbreak News Today substack zooms in on. . . Nigeria. And the results are. . . grim, here only one-quarter in, to 2026. The virus spreads most readily, in the dry season -- and already 99 patients are dead -- with over 600 confirmed cases, spread all over the country. See my heat map, at right.

Here is all of that, but this virus is every bit the potent killer that Ebola has historically been. We need an approved vaccine -- and ring vaccination protocols, for contacts -- with vials, at the ready. And we need it. . . like yesterday:

. . .The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is calling for strengthened state-level response measures as Lassa fever cases continue to rise during the peak transmission period of the dry season. . . .

Cumulatively as of week 8, 2026, 99 deaths have been reported with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 24.5% which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2025 (18.8%).

Of particular concern is the increase in infections among healthcare workers, with 28 confirmed infections and 3 deaths recorded this season.

Lassa fever follows a predictable seasonal and geographic pattern in Nigeria. High-burden states are known, peak months are well documented. . . .

Now you know. And this too will be Tangerine's legacy -- tens of thousands of excess deaths, globally, due to his gutting of USAID. Damn him. Onward, resolutely -- just the same.

नमस्ते