Niger State government says that it has uncovered an outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) with laboratory tests confirming 31 cases and four deaths in some local government areas of the state.
The commissioner of Health, Dr. Mustapha Jibril in a press briefing on the outbreak of the disease on Wednesday in Minna said that the cases and deaths recorded so far have remained confined to two local government areas of Magama and Katcha.
Our correspondent reports that the state recorded 123 cases with 33 deaths across 12 local government areas last year with Magama taking the highest hit of 31 deaths.
Dr Jibril said the outbreak is also occurring in other states with 209 suspected cases with 22 laboratory confirmed and 11 deaths reported countrywide.
The commissioner warned that there could be possibility of more outbreak and higher mortality rate as the heat intensfies.
He noted that in response to the outbreak, the ministry of health has activated response mechanisms across the 25 local government areas, while also working closely with World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Doctors without Borders and other partners in tackling the menace.
He also disclosed that surveillance has been intensified, including active case search across all the wards within the 25 local government areas of the state.
He said the first set of positive samples have been taken to the National Centre for Diseases Control laboratory in Abuja for higher level analysis.
He said the General hospital, Auna has been designated as referral health facility for treatment of cases in the state.
He urged everybody to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene as well as avoiding overcrowding and also ensuring adequate ventilation in their respective homes.
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