OMG!!! Meningitis Outbreak in Nigeria Kills 269 People

The outbreak of diseases around the world is fast becoming “normal”. Hardly does a week go by without a report of a new disease outbreak in this country or that country. In recent weeks, an outbreak of a known disease in Nigeria called meningitis happened to have claimed the lives of 269 people.

As at Monday, 1,828 suspected cases of meningitis were reported with 269 death cases recorded in 15 out of 36 states in the country.

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) did mention this on Twitter as at late Tuesday.

The centre said on its website that 33 people bit the dust of meningitis in 2016.

This disease had also claimed the lives of over 2,000 Nigerians after an outbreak in 2009. These many lives were lost partly as a result of limited access to fundamental healthcare in most rural areas in the country where most people live on less than 2 dollars per day despite the country’s huge oil resources.

Meningitis is an inflammation of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord usually caused by bacterial or viral infections.

Meningitis is mainly spread from one individual to another through coughs, sneezes, kisses and in close living quarters like “face me I slap you neighbourhoods”

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has said that they and other aid organisations are in the currently working hand in hand to tackle the surge in infections.

They’ve also announced that they are now working with the World Health Organisation, the U.N. Children’s Fund and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to try to control the outbreak and menace claiming the lives of Nigerians at this time.

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