Sokoto, 28 April 2017 - The release of 823,000  doses of meningitis vaccine to combat an outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in Sokoto will protect  more than 800,000 people  across nine Local Government Areas (LGAs), the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kakale Shehu, says.  Sokoto is one of six states in Nigeria where the number of meningitis cases has passed the epidemic threshold during the ongoing outbreak.

Launching the 5-day (28- April-02 May 2017) reactive vaccination in Dange Shuni LGA, Dr Shehu said the campaign was planned in response to the unprecedented outbreak of CSM caused by Neisseria meningitidis type C. The state, he explained, has been recording CSM outbreaks annually during the last three years, but never witnessed an outbreak of this magnitude whereby more than 3,000 people have been affected across the state.

In March, World Health Organization (WHO) supported Nigeria to request and receive 500,000-polysaccharide meningitis A+C vaccines from the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision. The ICG, which coordinates the provision of vaccine supplies during outbreak emergencies, is composed of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and WHO as the secretariat. The vaccines, funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, were used for reactive campaigns in Zamfara (420,000) Sokoto (20,000), and Katsina (50,000) states.

Meanwhile, the 823,000 doses of conjugate C vaccines sent to Sokoto came from a donation by the UK Government to WHO.

Speaking at the launch of the reactive vaccination campaign, WHO North West Zonal Coordinator, Dr Abdullahi Suleiman said “All 3 levels of WHO have continued to provide technical and material assistance to the meningitis outbreak response in Nigeria.

“Since the onset of the outbreak, we have mobilized both human and material resources to support the government including mobilization of vaccine from the ICG, microplanning, outbreak investigation, laboratory diagnosis and case-management,” said Dr Suleiman. He further noted that “in addition to the targeted reactive vaccination campaigns, WHO also positioned 20 000 vials of antibiotics to treat people with the disease.

As of 26 April 2017, 10,953 suspected cases of meningitis have been reported in Nigeria; 230 (3%) are laboratory confirmed and 919 deaths (Case Fatality Rate, CFR=8.4%) have been recorded. The six most affected states by the outbreak are in the North West zone.

WHO and other development partners will continue to provide support to halt further fatalities.

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For more information, please contact:

Technical contacts:

Dr Mary Stephen; Tel: +234 803 639 1332; Email:  stephenm [at] who.int
Dr Ifeanyi Okudo;  Tel; 803 402 0833; Email: okudoi [at] who.int
Media contact:

Ms  Charity Warigon; Tel: +234 810 221 0093; Email: warigonc [at] who.int

Below:

01 Sokoto Commissioner for Health (1st right) preparing to vaccinate a child at the flag-off

02 WHO Zonal Coordinator speaking to journalists after the flag-off