As of April 5, Nigerian health officials have reported a total of 3,959 meningococcal meningitis cases (181 confirmed) with 438 deaths, including two in the largest city, Lagos. This is up from 2,997 cases with 336 deaths on Apr. 3. Neisseria meningitidis serotype C is implicated in most of the illnesses.
Outbreaks are currently reported in 19 States with five States mostly affected accounting for 95 percent of cases (Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto in the North-West zone and Niger in the North-Central zone of Nigeria).
The outbreak prompted the Federal Government, through its agencies; the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency and partners to activate an Emergency Operations Centre on Monday to manage the ongoing outbreak of meningococcal meningitis.
On Thursday, a mass vaccination campaign commenced in the eight most affected Local Government Areas (LGA) in Zamfara State, and will continue until Sunday. The campaign targets 300,000 persons aged 2 – 29 years.
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.
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