After seven years of support from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Ebonyi State’s health authorities in Nigeria have taken over Lassa fever care with improved infrastructure and trained staff, significantly reducing fatalities, especially among healthcare workers.

MSF helped build isolation wards, set up laboratories, provided protective equipment, and delivered over 230 training sessions to protect hospital staff and enhance patient care at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital.

Community-level outreach and health promotion also played a key role, with over 4,500 education sessions conducted to encourage early detection and reduce stigma.

The transition to local management was completed in 2024, with ongoing collaboration to maintain infection control and improve disease response, reflecting a marked improvement from the deadly 2018 outbreak.