Yellow fever outbreak kills 172 people in Nigeria



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“As of November 24, the outbreak had been detected in five states of Nigeria – Delta, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue and Ebonyi,” organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.

“A total of 530 suspected cases have been recorded, 48 of which have been confirmed by laboratory tests. All of these 530 suspected cases have resulted in the deaths of 172 people,” he added.

There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, which is widely transmitted in urban areas by mosquitoes. The percentage of people vaccinated against yellow fever remains low in many parts of Africa, even though the vaccine is nearly 100% effective and relatively inexpensive.

Health experts have warned in recent months that the coronavirus pandemic could cause an increase in some diseases due to the disruption of vaccination programs.

In October, WHO announced that Nigeria was resuming yellow fever vaccines after stepping up security measures due to Covid-19 as early as March and hoped to vaccinate 30 million people soon.

The most populous country in Africa – like the rest of the continent – has so far been relatively untouched by the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has officially killed 1,179 people for more than 68,300 cases in the country, but the number of tests is largely insufficient.

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