Recently, Nigeria Centre for Disesae Control, NCDC said a total of forty cases of communicable diseases were confirmed in some states like Delta, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue, Ebonyi and Oyo states.
Over seventy people have reportedly died since the recent outbreak of the virus in Bauchi, Delta and Enugu states.
In some cases, some residents of Delta state initially linked the deaths to a strange disease not until the Commissioner for health, Mordi Ononye, identified yellow fever as the cause of death.
Also, in Enugu, three additional local government areas were reportedly hit by strange deaths presumably linked to yellow fever.
According to health Minister, Osagie Ehanire, the federal government, through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, was responding to the outbreak.
He noted that from the analysis gathered so far it is yellow fever.
Yellow fever is a disease that is transmitted by mosquito bites in Africa and haemagogus and sabethes mosquitoes in South America.
Experts say there is no cure for yellow fever, but there is a vaccine now and about fifteen percent of people who get yellow fever progress to a severe form, which is characterised by jaundice, the condition that gave the disease its name.
The director, Disease Control and immunisation at the national primary health care development agency, Bassey Okposen, explained that public awareness campaign and immunisation have started in states with confirmed cases.
This is heartwarming but efforts should be geared towards the containment to prevent the virus from spreading to other states.
Many outbreaks which have occurred in Nigeria over the years have been attributed to clinicians either not reporting or reporting late when the index cases of epidemic prone diseases present in the various health institutions across the country.
It is crucial to note that disease outbreak do not give notice before its occurrence neither do they respect the borders of nations.
When they eventually occur, they are likely to spread like wildfire and often resulting in high morbidity and fatality rate with consequent economic impact.
Progress should also be made towards developing a suitable vaccine for the control of communicable diseases to reduce the spread.
It is necessary that Nigerians must protect themselves by keeping the environment clean, covering of food to prevent contact with rodents, washing of hands regularly and adhering to public health guidance self-medication should be avoided and people must report to the nearest medical facility for proper medical attention.
Olubunmi Agboola
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