Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed the outbreak of dengue fever in Sokoto State.
In a statement signed and posted on its X by the NCDC Director General, Ifedayo Adetifa, on Saturday, the agency said that so far, “71 suspected cases, 13 confirmed cases, and zero deaths” have been recorded.
The cases were reported in three Local Government Areas – Sokoto South (60 cases), Wamako (three cases) and Dange Shuni (one case), it added.
Dengue fever, a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people, is more common in tropical and subtropical climates.
Most people who get dengue won’t have symptoms, the NCDC warned, adding that “for those that do, the most common symptoms are high fever, headache, body aches, nausea and rashes.
“Most will also get better in 1-2 weeks. Some people develop severe dengue and need care in a hospital.”
The statement assured that “there is currently adequate in-country capacity including technical, health workforce, and diagnostic to respond effectively in the event of a large-scale outbreak. Nigeria has also responded to viral haemorrhagic fever epidemics like the Ebola Outbreak in 2014 and subsequently Lassa fever.
“This has built our preparedness and response capabilities for viral haemorrhagic fevers like the dengue virus over the years.
“Currently, there is a diagnostics capacity for the dengue virus at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory in Abuja and the Usman Dan Fodio University Sokoto Teaching Hospital Laboratory Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology.
“However, the NCDC will proceed to optimise existing Lassa fever testing laboratories and others within the NCDC national laboratory network for DENV diagnosis to improve preparedness and readiness in the event of a large-scale outbreak.”
It also added that “an effective response system is in place with the availability of control capacities to limit the risk of spread to other states.”
