Nine killed as yellow fever spreads to 16 states

At least nine people have reportedly been killed in an outbreak of Yellow fever in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its latest situation report.

The current outbreak was first recorded in a young girl in Oke Owa community of Ifelodun local government area (LGA) of Kwara state on September 12, 2017.

• WHAT IS YELLOW FEVER?

It is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Its symptoms include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Some infected people may not experience any of these symptoms. In severe cases, bleeding may occur from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach.

According to the report, there are confirmed cases in 12 LGAs of seven states — Kwara, Kogi, Kano, Zamfara, Kebbi, Nasarawa and Niger.

It added that a total of 16 states have reported suspected cases. The states were listed as Abia, Borno, Kogi, Kwara, Kebbi, Plateau, Zamfara, Enugu, Oyo, Anambra, Edo, Lagos, Kano, Nasarawa, Katsina and Niger.

The most affected states are Zamfara, Kwara and Kano.

The report explained that in the reporting week, one new confirmed case from Borgu LGA of Niger was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) reference laboratory, Dakar, Senegal – the first confirmed case in Niger.

It added that as at January 2, a total of 358 suspected yellow fever cases have been recorded.

Persons from and below the age of 20 are said to be more susceptible to the disease.

“Total number of deaths in all cases (among suspected, probable and confirmed cases) is 45, and 9 among confirmed cases – Case fatality rate (CFR) for all cases (including suspected, probable and confirmed) is 12.6%, and 27.3% for confirmed cases,” the report read.