Nigeria has experienced a meningitis outbreak from October 2022 to April 2023, with 532 confirmed cases and 124 deaths reported out of 1,686 suspected cases.
Meningitis is a grave infection of the meninges, which are the protective layers enveloping the brain and spinal cord. While various agents such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses can cause the disease, bacterial meningitis is responsible for the most significant global burden.
The outbreak has occurred in 81 local government areas in 22 states, including the Federal Capital Territory.
The World Health Organisation reported that males account for 57% of the total suspected cases.
“The highest proportion of reported cases is among children aged 1 to 15 years. Jigawa state accounts for 74 per cent (n = 1252) of all suspected cases, and this state borders the Zinder region in Niger, where a meningitis outbreak has been reported since October 2022.
“A total of 481 cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected from patients in 18 states. Out of these samples, 247 tested positive for bacterial infection by PCR test. Among the positive cases, 226 (91 per cent) were caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NmC), while 13 cases (5.4 per cent) were caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, and only one case (0.4 per cent) by Haemophilus influenzae.
“For 232 samples the result was negative, and for two the result is pending. In the last five weeks alone (epidemiological weeks 11-15), 41 out of 140 samples tested (29 per cent) were positive for NmC. The confirmed cases were reported from eight states including Jigawa (231), Zamfara (six), Yobe (five), Benue (one), Gombe (one), Katsina (one), Oyo (one), and Sokoto (one).
“Jigawa state consists of 27 LGAs, of which 25 have reported at least one suspected case. There have been 66 deaths in Jigawa state. During the current outbreak, Maigatari LGA and Sule-tankarkar LGA have both crossed the epidemic threshold of 10 suspected cases per 100,000 population and account for 60 per cent of the total reported cases, with 505 and 247 cases respectively,” the report read in part.
