Nigeria News

13 March 2002 --For Nigeria to meet the global target of interrupting transmission of wild poliovirus by the end of this year, it has been recommended that the country conducts two rounds of Sub-National Immunization Days (SNIDs) in April and May. These will be done in the whole states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano and Jigawa as well as parts of Borno, Benue, Niger, Katsina, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which are considered as high risk areas for polio transmission.

12 March 2002 -- In its continued efforts to find solutions to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, the Nigerian government, over the weekend, held a Presidential Forum on HIV/AIDS. Hosted by President Olusegun Obasanjo, the forum was attended by a number of dignitaries including former United States President Jimmy Carter; Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates (Snr.); Professor Jeffrey Sachs; Dr. Helen Gayle and a former Nigerian President, Dr. Yakubu Gowon.

A total of 51 wild polioviruses were isolated from 16 states in Nigeria in 2001. The virus is responsible for cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). 33 of these were Type 1 while 18 were Type 3. Results of 20 other isolates sent to the Regional polio laboratory in Accra, Ghana for intra-typical differentiation are still being awaited.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is to spend about =N= 2.7 million this year to support State Epidemiology teams to implement Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) activities in the country. This was disclosed by the WHO Representative for Nigeria, Dr. Abdou Moudi at a recent meeting of State Epidemiologists and WHO Surveillance Officers, held in Kaduna.

THE INCIDENT 
An armoury at the Ikeja military cantonment in Lagos, Nigeria, containing "high calibre bombs" went up in flames at about 6.00 pm (local time) on Sunday, 27th January 2002, resulting in a series of explosions in and around the cantonment. The explosions affected areas up to 50 kms. away from the scene of the incident. Lagos is the economic nerve centre of Nigeria. It has an estimated population of between 10 and 12 million people. Two Local Government Areas - Ikeja and Oshodi/Isolo - with a population of about 1.03 million people were mostly affected.

Epidemiologists from WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions meet in Accra to discuss surveillance of diseases in the two regions

01 February 2002 -- Epidemiologists and Experts meeting in Accra to assess progress made in the implementation of the UN funded Project on strengthening surveillance and response for vaccine-preventable and epidemic prone diseases, have called for effective documentation to enable national programs and their partners have useful evidence based on field experience in the implementation of the project.

After more than two years without the detection of wild polio in Nigeria, the Government reported three laboratory confirmed wild poliovirus type one (WPV1) cases with onset between July and August 2016.

All three cases were detected from Borno State, in children between 2 and 5 years of age. Two of them developed acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) while one was asymptomatic, identified as a close contact of a child with AFP.