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A yellow fever epidemic has killed 172 people in Nigeria, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Detected in November, the disease has already caused a humanitarian crisis in the northeast of the country, reports AFP.
“Since November 24, the epidemic has been detected in five Nigerian states: Delta, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue and Ebonyi,” the organization’s spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, told reporters in Geneva.
530 suspected cases were registered, of which 48 were confirmed by laboratory analysis.
All these 530 suspected cases led to the deaths of 172 people, ”added Jasarevic, writes Agerpres.
There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, which is spread widely in urban areas by mosquitoes. Although the vaccine is almost 100% effective and relatively inexpensive, the percentage of people vaccinated against yellow fever remains low in many parts of Africa.
Health experts have warned in recent months that the coronavirus pandemic could cause the spread of some diseases due to the interruption of vaccination programs.
In October, the WHO announced that Nigeria would resume vaccination against yellow fever from March after security measures were tightened due to COVID-19, adding that it expected 30 million people to be vaccinated soon.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has so far not been relatively affected by the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus. Officially, the virus has killed 1,179 people in Nigeria in more than 68,300 cases nationwide, but the amount of evidence remains largely insufficient.
Publisher: Georgiana Marina
