‘Kogi will be free of yellow fever in the next 40 years’

Yakubu Abubakar, executive director of Kogi state primary health care development agency (KSPHCDA), says the state will be free of yellow fever disease in the next 40 years.

Abubakar made this statement at a press conference in Lokoja on Wednesday.

Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected aedes mosquitoes. 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.

He said the agency is collaborating with the ministry of health, World Health Organization (WHO) and other development partners on yellow fever reactive vaccination in all 21 local governments of the state.

“All things being equal, we don’t expect any yellow fever outbreak in Kogi state in the next 40 years,” the director said.

Listing efforts to boost grass root healthcare delivery, Abubakar said the agency carried out a cerebrospinal meningitis vaccination in some parts of the state in November 2017.

He said the state held a maternal, newborn and child week and recently appointed 21 routine immunisation officers (RIOs) as staff of local government emergency routine immunisation coordinating centre (LERICC).

These efforts, he said, would help improve immunisation coverage and check preventable child killer diseases in the state.