UPDATE ON MENINGITIS OUTBREAK IN NIGERIA

7 March 1996

Press Release
H/2902

UPDATE ON MENINGITIS OUTBREAK IN NIGERIA

19960307 GENEVA, 5 March (WHO) -- According to data received by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in the northern part of Nigeria, 8,423 cases with 1,181 deaths had been reported as of 29 February. The cases were reported in Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba States. The highest numbers were reported in Bauchi (2,504 cases, 461 deaths), Kaduna (2,000 cases, 50 deaths), and Katsina (1,590 cases, 297 deaths). Case fatality rates ranged from 2.5 per cent to 30 per cent in the different States.

The Ministry of Health has sent teams to the affected areas and experts from the WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Médecins sans Frontières have joined the teams as part of their support for control activities. Preliminary laboratory investigations of five cases have identified Neisseria meningitis serogroup A in three of the cases and serogroup B in one of them. Other samples are being investigated in laboratories in Nigeria and Norway.

The outbreak seems to have started in early January in Bauchi State, where the number of cases reported in the first two months of 1996 was far greater than the number of cases reported annually in previous years. The WHO Representative in Nigeria has commended the efforts made by the Federal Ministry of Health for its handling of the outbreak. Seven million doses of vaccines have been distributed to the affected areas. However, the WHO feels that an additional 10 million doses will be needed in the foreseeable future in order to ensure coverage of children under the age of 15, the population group at highest risk.

Experts from the WHO have noted that the level of preparedness varied from State to State, as reflected by case fatality rates. They also stressed the shortage of drugs, particularly chloramphenicol, the most suitable drug to treat meningitis patients. The Nigerian Government has asked the WHO to help procure 50,000 vials of oily chloramphenicol, which is more convenient to use by health workers than the powder form, as well as 50,000 syringes and needles. The WHO is working closely in the field with local health authorities, UNICEF and Médecins sans Frontières. The WHO has recommended that a task force/coordination committee be formed to improve information and intensify public education.

* *** *