Academy alerts to fresh threat of Yellow fever

The Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) has alerted on fresh threat of Yellow fever in Nigeria.

NAS during a media roundtable discussion on the threat of Yellow fever at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), revealed that about 101, 298,992 of Nigerian population are at risk of the disease.

According to the Academy, yellow fever is a re-emerging disease and the high-risk calls for a global yellow fever vaccine production.

NAS noted that the re emergence of the disease in the 1980s recorded about 116,000 cases, hence the need for Nigerians to be on the watch.

With reference to statistics the Academy presented, 953 cases were confirmed in both Angola and Democratic Republic Congo with international spread to China and Kenya plus 16 million vaccinated.

Following this, NAS disclosed that Nigeria is launching an immediate response to strengthen surveillance, emergency campaign as well as immunization efforts to reach 1.3 million children in the country and a regional immunization campaign in Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Central African Republic.

Managing Director of May and Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor pointed out the challenges of local vaccine production and appealed to government to take vaccination and immunization seriously as a measure to tackle emerging and re-emerging diseases.

President, NAS, Prof. Oyewole Tomori, said Yellow fever started in Angola and some citizens transported it to Congo, he also mention that some citizens of China residing at Angola also carried it to China but the government were fast enough to eradicate it.

The NAS boss identified risk assessment/mapping, surveillance and laboratory backup, Introduction of vaccine in routine immunization and preventive mass campaign as strategic methods for yellow fever control.

“As long as citizens move from one country to the other, no country is free from exposure to yellow fever and Nigeria better be prepared, possibly Nigerians travelling out should be vaccinated and also people entering the country should be well examined for yellow fever,” Tomori noted