At least 72 fatal cases of Lassa fever have been reported in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, since the beginning of this year, public health authorities said on Thursday.

The 72 deaths were among a total of 411 cases confirmed so far from the outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic fever recorded across 21 states since January, reported, citing the latest report of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

Sixty-five per cent of the total confirmed cases were reported from the three states of Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi, while 35 per cent were reported from 18 other states, the NCDC said.