The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, said the agency had an emergency meeting in Jigawa state over the meningitis outbreak in the state.
Dr Adetifa said the Emergency Operation Centre meeting reviewed the response, identified challenges, and proffered solutions to the outbreak.
The NCDC boss disclosed this in a series of tweets via his Twitter handle on Saturday.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, a thin layer of the connective tissue that covers the brain and the spinal cord. If due to an infection, this inflammation can be caused by a variety of organisms – bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi. Injuries and certain drugs can also cause such inflammation.
The common signs and symptoms are fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, neck stiffness, and altered conscious levels.
It can be transmitted from person to person through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions from infected people.
The outbreak of the infection in the country confirms the risk of international spread as there is an ongoing meningitis outbreak in the bordering Zinder State in Niger Republic.
Zinder region shares an international border with Jigawa State in Nigeria where the Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C outbreak is confirmed.
The World Health Organisation said the simultaneous occurrence of other epidemics, insecurity, and population displacement, all in the context of a protracted humanitarian crisis, are likely to contribute to the spread of the outbreak in other countries of the West African sub-region.
WHO assesses the risk posed by the current meningitis outbreak in Niger as high at the national level, moderate at the regional level, and low at the global level.
Meanwhile, the NCDC DG said he met with the Jigawa State Government, the Rapid Response Team, and other partners on curbing the spread of the disease in the country.
“#TodayatNCDC, I travelled to Jigawa to check on and offer support to @OfficialJGSG SMOH led by PSH & Ag HCH, Dr Salisu Muazu, SE & team, deployed @NCDCgov #RRT including @NphcdaNG led by @AmazaRahab, all working with partners to respond to the ongoing #Meningitis type C outbreak.
“We had a #meningitis EOC meeting reviewed the response, identified challenges and came up with solutions. Happy to see @OfficialJGSG’s commitment to the response. Kudos to @NphcdaNG @WHONigeria Jigawa, @MSF_Nigeria and others for supporting this #meningitis outbreak response.
“This outbreak in #Jigawa is a reminder that cross border surveillance work & #EPR plans are never quite done. There is also an outbreak in the bordering Zinder State, Niger Republic. Pathogens don’t recognize borders and go wherever people go. #Vaccination is key for prevention,” he tweeted.
From November 1, 2022, to January 27, 2023, a total of 559 cases of meningitis (of which 111 are laboratory confirmed), including 18 deaths have been reported from the Zinder Region.
Meningitis is a public health concern with a high case fatality rate and leading to serious long-term complications.
Meanwhile, preventing meningitis through vaccination is the most effective way to reduce the burden and impact of the disease by delivering long-lasting protection.
“The rollout of multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines is a public health priority to eliminate bacterial meningitis epidemics in the African meningitis belt. Introduction into routine immunisation programmes and maintaining high coverage will be critical to avoid the resurgence of epidemics,” WHO noted.
