'Yellow Fever' claims 76 lives in Nigeria

ANKARA (AA) - Nigeria’s health authorities have recorded 222 suspected cases of Yellow Fever with 76 confirmed deaths in the states of Bauchi, Delta and Enugu in the first two weeks of November, local media reported Friday.

After the spike in Yellow Fever cases in the three Nigerian states, “the government has committed to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemic (EYE) strategy to ensure all have access to the vaccine against the disease and that we do not record outbreaks in our communities,” local website Nigerian Tribune quoted Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, as saying.

Ihekweazu further urged that Nigerians should refrain from seeing the disease as a “strange disease,” according to the report.

“There is nothing strange about the disease, which was first detected in Nigeria over 40 years ago. We know how the virus is transmittable and we have an effective vaccine that provides immunity for life,” Ihekweazu was quoted as saying.

“To properly respond to an infectious disease outbreak, we must understand its cause. We have now established and confirmed through laboratory testing that the increase in cases and deaths in some communities in Bauchi, Delta and Enugu states are as a result of Yellow Fever virus,” he added.

At the moment, the country has 19 confirmed cases of Yellow Fever, which is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease that causes symptoms, including chills, fever, nausea, loss of appetite and muscle pain, especially in the back and headache.