Nigeria, March 11 -- The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday listed several measures it has in place for the prevention and control of the Lassa fever outbreak.

Among them, NCDC identified 'contact tracing' as crucial in curtailing the spread of the deadly disease.

An outbreak of Lassa fever was declared in Nigeria on January 21, 2019.

Since then, 420 confirmed cases and 93 deaths have been reported in 21 states according to the NCDC.

By these figures, deaths recorded in the first quarter of the year alone is more than half of that in 2018.

An annual report by NCDC last December showed that there were 149 deaths with 3,276 suspected cases in 23 states in 2018.

But in a press briefing Monday in Abuja, NCDC, the agenc...