Nigeria has a yellow fever outbreak underway and an analysis of the official data on the number confirmed cases showed four states account for 80% of all cases in the country as at Christmas Day.
According to a situation report published by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the four states with the highest number of confirmed cases of yellow fever are Enugu, Delta, Benue and Bauchi.
According to the official data, out of the 110 confirmed cases of yellow fever in Nigeria, Enugu accounted for 37, Delta – 28, Benue – 14 and Bauchi – 9.
While the official data showed the outbreak has resulted in 17 deaths and a case fatality rate (CFR) of 15.5%, the rate is higher in Enugu where about 1 in 4 persons that tested positive had died (CFR = 24.3%) followed by Delta (21.4%).
Doing something
The NCDC has also revealed that a total of four states across Nigeria have concluded preventive mass vaccination campaigns (PMVC) in all their local governments. The states are Benue, Oyo, Ondo and Delta States. It also revealed that Bauchi State will implement its PMVC by January 2021.
NCDC added that the country has secured approval for yellow fever reactive mass vaccination campaign in nine local government areas in Enugu and two in Ebonyi.
According to a situation report published by the NCDC, a total of 3,112 suspected cases and 109 confirmed cases have been reported from 488 (63%) LGAs across all states and FCT. The available dataset also showed that on average, males are more affected than females.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), yellow fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease of humans and other primates, and is currently endemic in over 43 countries. The disease is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes and has the potential to spread rapidly.
The yellow fever vaccine that confers protection against the disease is given as a single subcutaneous (or intramuscular) injection. The vaccine is highly effective and is approaching an efficacy level of 100%, according to the WHO.