Onwuka Nzeshi
31 January 2008
Abuja — A total of 264 deaths have been recorded across the country since the outbreak of various epidemics in the last quarter of last year.
The bulk of the casualties occurred in Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Borno and Katsina States where measles claimed 196 lives.
A report released by the Health Emergency Response Division, Public Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health indicates that a total of 5,957 cases of measles were reported nationwide over the last twelve weeks.
In Kaduna where 1,800 cases were detected, 31 lives have been lost while Katsina State recorded a total of 834 cases and 74 deaths in an epidemic that swept across 27 local government areas.
Kano State recorded a total of 1,371 cases between September and December last year but the report did not indicate how many lives were lost in the state.
Similarly, Lassa fever, yellow fever, cerebro-spinal meningitis, avian influenza and cholera have all taken their tolls on Nigeria over the same period. According to the report, 21 cases of lass a fever were reported and eight deaths recorded in the high risk areas of Edo, Plateau, Lagos, Ogun, Nasarawa, Taraba, Borno and Anambra States.
Yellow fever, which has been a public health problem since 1951, was suspected to have broken out in Edo State in December 2007 until samples sent to the World Health Organization's laboratory in Dakar, Senegal were found to be negative.
The report also disclosed that in Katsina State, a cumulative total of 201 cases and 21 deaths were recorded in the cerebro-spinal meningitis ( CS M) epidemic that occurred in three local government areas of the state.
The CSM epidemic has equally claimed two deaths in Gagarawa LGA of Jigawa State.
In 2007, a total of 1444 cases and 34 deaths were recorded from cholera outbreaks nationwide. The outbreaks occurred in Borno, Jigawa, Bauchi, Kaduna, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States.
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It is sad to see how the mother of creation remains in the pit. We have all the resources in the continent to use and stop all types of diseases. The reason is that Africans do not give preference to education. Education is not only to read and write, but to educate our people on how to take care of themselves. To do that we must have leaders who have the heart for their people. Having the heart for the people will lead to forming a research team to find out how all the leaves and roots in the continent… [Read Full Text]
I wish to request that all health related articles abiut Nigeria be always posted to me through my e-mail address. thaks.