The Federal Government on Tuesday confirmed that 336 persons had been killed by Cerebrospinal Meningitis.
According to our source, the FG said a total of 2,997 suspected cases of the disease had been reported in 16 states since Monday.
The government had dispatched a team made up of local and foreign medical experts to Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Niger states where cases of meningitis were recorded.
A statement by the Technical Assistant (Communication), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Lawal Bakare, said the government was making efforts to stop the disease from spreading.
He said the government had activated an Emergency Operations Centre to manage the ongoing outbreak of the disease in five North-West states.
Bakare said,
“As of April 3, 2017, a total of 2,997 suspected cases of CSM were reported in 16 states out of which 146 have been laboratory-confirmed. Unfortunately, 336 deaths have also been recorded.
“We are confident that we have turned the tide, and with increasing vaccination activities, expect a reduction in number of cases. Most importantly the lessons learned from this outbreak will help the country prepare for the future.”
Bakare said the activation of the EOC had brought a national response into an Incidence Management System to ensure that all activities in the country would be managed using a clear command and control structure led by an Incident Manager.
He added,
“With this new coordinating structure, the country will have a tight, multi-partner team of experts from the most competent agencies focusing on outbreak control in Nigeria.
The Head of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the NCDC, Dr. John Oladejo, will act as the IM of the response, while experts from the Federal Ministry of Health, NCDC, NPHCDA, WHO, UNICEF, Africa Centre for Disease Control, US Centre for Disease Control, Medecins Sans Frontieres, AFENET, University of Maryland and E-Health Africa play key roles in different units that focus on five key components of the outbreak response.
“A total of 500,000 doses of Meningitis C vaccines have been distributed to some of the affected states for immediate outbreak response vaccination. An additional 823,970 doses of Meningitis C vaccines are expected from the United Kingdom to support vaccination activities in other affected States.”
Source
The Punch
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