ABUJA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- About 70 people that had contact with the victims of Lassa fever are now in a local isolation facility receiving treatment, said the government of Kano in Nigeria's northwest region on Tuesday.

The 70 quarantined people are among the 390 people isolated for having contact with the victims of the acute viral hemorrhagic fever in the northern state, said Aminu Tsanyawa, the state's commissioner for health.

He told reporters in Kano, the state capital, that over 300 others have been treated and discharged so far.

"Three of them who were confirmed to have contacted the disease have since recovered and also discharged after receiving proper treatment," he said.

Lassa fever is reportedly transmitted when saliva, urine, and excreta of rats come into contact with humans. In some cases, it has similar symptoms as malaria.

As of February 13, the death toll of the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria had risen to 70, according to data by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

The disease continues to spread in the country, with at least 23 states now been affected by the Lassa fever outbreak so far. Each of the affected states has recorded at least one confirmed case so far this year, the NCDC said.

But Tsanyawa, the commissioner for health in Kano, said the state government has put in place measures to ensure that Lassa fever did not escalate.

"The measures are not only for Lassa fever but also to ensure that no kind of epidemic outbreak is recorded in the state," the official said further.

Recent epidemiological data show that Lassa fever usually occurs in the country during the dry season between January and April. Enditem

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