Meningitis kills 8 in NW Nigeria

Cerebrospinal meningitis has killed eight more people at a village in Nigeria's northwestern state of Katsina, as efforts to control the outbreak intensified in the country, a local public health official said on Thursday.

Nasiru Mani, a director of primary health care in the state, said 16 cases of meningitis were reported recently in Tsabu Village of Katsina's Mai'adua district, out of which eight deaths were recorded in the past two days.

The eight other patients are receiving treatment in a state-run hospital, the official told Xinhua, noting a medical surveillance team has been deployed to the village to address the situation.

Health authorities in the state have designated centers at rural clinics for local people to get immunization against the disease.

A total of 17 states in Nigeria are affected by the current outbreak of meningitis, which is an acute inflammation of the meninges of the brain and spinal cord.

More than 813 deaths have been recorded across the country since the outbreak in late 2016, according to health minister Isaac Adewole.

Adewole said Type C, the new strain of meningitis in the west African country, was imported from neighboring Niger. The new strain requires a different type of vaccine.

The symptoms include fever, rash, headache, and vomiting.

The seasonal outbreak of meningitis is expected in Nigeria due to its location and occasioned by factors like cold nights, dusty winds and dry weather.

The current problem was aggravated by formidable factors like traditional beliefs, poor hygiene and overpopulation, experts told Xinhua.

The Nigerian government has deployed epidemiologists and vaccines to contain the outbreak. Vaccination is an effective way of controlling the disease. Endit