The Federal Department of Veterinary Services has called for “urgent and decisive action’’ through the collaborative efforts of all three tiers of government to contain the spread of Avian Influenza in the country. The Director of the department, Dr Eze Egejuru, made the appeal at the 44th Meeting of the National Livestock Development Committee on Friday in Abuja. “There is therefore an urgent and decisive action through effective synergy and collaboration between the three tiers of government, private sector and other stakeholders to ensure that the disease is brought under control and eventually eradicated.’’ Egejuru said the virus had spread to 23 states and the FCT since its resurgence in Jan. 2015, killing 2.5 million birds across the affected areas.

According to her, the continuous spread of the virus is stretching the logistics and technical ability of Nigeria’s veterinary services. The director commended development partners for their continuous support in tackling the virus, but expressed concern that the efforts had not yielded the desired result.  “I wish to commend our development partners notably the World Bank, FAO, USAID, among others, who assisted us in our containment efforts through supply of inputs, capacity building programme, and strengthening of laboratory diagnostic services,’’ she said. She said the Federal Government was committed to the control of trans-boundary pests through aerial pest control, procurement of agro-chemicals, and ground control input.

No fewer than 900,000 children from nine months to five years are to be immunised against measles in Enugu State, according to an official. Dr Okechukwu Ossai, the Director of Public Health in the State Ministry of Health, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in that the ongoing campaign was targeted at children within the age bracket irrespective of their immunisation status. He said the ministry and its partners had designated health facilities, churches and village/market squares as immunisation points. Ossai said the exercise which was designed to last for five days (Thursday to Monday), might be extended by a day or two for effective grassroots coverage.

`We are penetrating every nook and cranny of the state and making substantial progress in the ongoing campaign which will meet the 900,000 children target. ``With the way we are pushing hard from all fronts, the ministry will achieve a good mileage in this campaign. ``The ministry is reiterating its call to parents/caregivers of eligible children or wards to take them to the nearest health centre or points for immunisation by trained health workers. ``

The Plateau Government says it has trained 66 laboratory scientists and technicians on effective ways of diagnosing and handling Lassa fever. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Kunden Deyin, disclosed this on Saturday in Jos at the opening of a workshop on the viral disease. He said that the objective of the training was to help bring succour to the public and avert further mortality arising from Lassa fever in the state. ``The workshop is to broaden the knowledge of participants about the disease and ensure containment as well as promote standard precautions.’’ According to Deyin, there is need to safeguard the lives of the health workers through the use of personal protective equipment while carrying out diagnoses.

``This workshop is also to re-orientate you on the need for implementing standard precautions in the handling and taking of samples.” Mr Agwo Martin, a participant, who described the training as timely, said it would create awareness on the various ways of handling the disease. Similarly, Dr James Damen, the Chairman, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist of Nigeria, commended the ministry for the training, noting that laboratory scientists play a vital role in the diagnosis of the disease.

Jide Idris, commissioner for health in the Nigerian state, while flagging off the program, said objective of the immunization exercise was to reduce childhood mortality and morbidity from measles, a vaccine preventable disease, among children aged nine months to 59 months.The vaccination exercise, which will be rounded off on Feb. 1, is the second phase of a nationwide measles campaign aimed at reducing any build up of susceptibles born since the previous supplemental immunization activities.

Idris said at least 95 percent of eligible children with measles antigens, irrespective of their previous immunizations status, will be immunized. Measles vaccine is safe for all children, even if the child has any common illness including undernourishment, malaria or diarrhea. According to the World Health Organization, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 17.1 million deaths between 2000 and 2014, making measles vaccine one of the best buys in public health. The government in Lagos State said it has made provision of 521 fixed

In a statement by the Ministry on Friday, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, assured Nigerians that there was no case of the Zika Virus in the country. The Minister, however, directed the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to include Zika Virus diagnosis as part of the ongoing efforts to manage Lassa fever outbreak. The World Health Organization has raised a global alert because the disease has spread in Brazil and 22 countries in the Americas. The Zika Virus disease is transmitted through the bite of a particular mosquito known as Aedes Aegypti with symptomssuch as mild fever, rash, joint pain and red eye.

If the virus gets into a pregnant woman, it can cause birth defects in the unborn baby. At the moment, there is no cure or vaccine for the virus. Nigeria is currently trying to contain Lassa Fever that has claimed over 77 lives across the country, with the latest deaths occurring in Lagos and Ebonyi States. 

It has been reported that 91,534 Nigerians are infected with with tuberculosis annually but sadly, several cases remain unreported, thereby making it difficult for the disease eradication. Also, Nigeria has been ranked 4th among 22 high tuberculosis burden countries in the world with 322 new persons estimated among 100,000 patients and 44 persons out of 100,000. This was revealed by Dr Mustapha Gidado, the country representative of Royal Dutch Tuberculosis Foundation during a sensitisation media workshop on the disease, it’s causes, symptoms, treatment and duration, as well as its prevention. Tuberculosis is a major threat to the existence of HIV and it is very important that both are treated simultaneously as already, 91,534 were notified of it in 2014, 85,891 adults, 5,643 children and 16,066 HIV positive individuals.”

He disclosed that there are over 6,000 health facilities across the 774 local governments in Nigeria providing tuberculosis services and they include private, faith-based, tertiary, secondary as well as primary healthcare centres. The disease which affects the chest can develop to a level of drug-resistant tuberculosis which takes “20 months for drugs intake and eight months of daily injections. However, research is on-going globally to reduce the drug intake to a lesser period for effective treatment.” 

Another World Leprosy Day has come and gone and the disease is still spreading with 3,000 new cases been reported annually in Nigeria, especially with the involvement of child-related cases. KUNI TYESSI in this report highlights the causes, symptoms, treatment as well as preventive measures as many still live in ignorance of it. Known as Hansen’s Disease, leprosy is caused by a type of bacteria otherwise known as mycobacterium leprae and is known to multiply very slowly. Its incubation period is said to be between 5 years while symptoms can take 20 years to appear and it mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. Throughout its history, leprosy has been feared and misunderstood with several mythical and cultural undertone attached to it. For a long time, it was thought to be a hereditary disease, a curse, or a punishment from God as there are stories in the Bible that suggests this.

Before and even after the discovery of its biological cause, leprosy patients were stigmatized and shunned. For example, in Europe, historical fact records that during the Middle Ages, its sufferers had to wear special clothing and ring bells to warn others that they were close, and even walk on a particular side of the road, depending on the direction of the wind. Even in modern times, its treatment has often occured in seperate hospitals and live-in colonies called leprosariums because of the stigma of the disease. Contrary to the social stigma, it is not highly contagious, and does not cause body parts to fall off. It is not also caused by witchcraft, neither are the suffers witches or wizards. In fact, 95% of the world’s population is naturally immune to the disease and once diagnosed, a person is easily cured. It is not highly infectious and transmission from human to human is through respiratory droplets from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases. It’s also possible to get the bacteria from armadillo and other non-human primates.

Experts are worried that the virus is spreading far and fast, with devastating consequences. The infection has been linked to cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with underdeveloped brains.

 The WHO alert punbsp;The WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of concern as Ebola. 

It means research and aid will be fast-tracked to tackle the infection. There have been around 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly in Brazil alone since October.