Nigerian officials have said that the current meningitis outbreak in the West Africa nation has claimed 813 lives.
According to the health minister of Nigeria, Isaac Adewole the government of Nigeria is doing all it can to contain the outbreak and bring relief to those at risk of the infection.
Mr. Adewole told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday that the government has approved a revised strategy which includes having health officials visiting all homes in northern Nigeria to search and identify those affected by the disease.
Those identified will then be vaccinated and treatment provided for them. There is already an ongoing mass vaccination campaign to respond to the outbreak in its northwestern states.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is now working with the World Health Organisation, the U.N’s Children’s Fund and Doctors Without Borders, to tackle the outbreak.
Meningitis is the inflammation of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord caused by viral or bacterial infections. It spreads mainly through kisses, sneezes, coughs and in close living quarters.
Source: Africafeeds.com
