The Nigeria Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDC) says over 4,000 confirmed cases of Lassa fever and 142 deaths have been recorded in 27 states across 123 local government areas in the country.
The Director – General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris who stated this during a news briefing in Abuja, also disclosed that over 2,000 cases of meningitis and 202 deaths had been recorded in 22 states.
He added that Kano State constituted about 75 per cent of diphtheria outbreak.
Idris advocated increased investments in public health initiatives and strengthened partnerships, as well as the need for the agency to collaborate with other sectors under the one health agenda to implement innovative strategies for disease prevention and control.
He also called on the federal government to collaborate with the state government to ensure that the citizens were protected because the crux of disease control was at the state and local government levels.
According to Idris, more funds would be required to address public health and that the roadmap to achieving the mandate of the agency was to lead the preparedness, detection, and response to public health emergencies.
Lassa fever has continued to ravage Nigerian communities, killing scores of people.
In Ebonyi State, forty-six deaths were recorded in February as a result of the Lassa fever outbreak in some parts of the state.
The Disease Surveillance Notification Officer in the State, Samson Orogwu, who spoke on the development in Abakaliki, explained that nine Local Government Areas in the state were affected.
Also in Kaduna, the NCDC confirmed an outbreak of Lassa fever after three health workers and a patient died at the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
