For yet another year, Nigeria and Niger are facing severe outbreaks of meningitis C. Both countries are part of the ‘meningitis belt’, a region that stretches across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia, and is particularly affected by the disease during the dry season. From 13 December 2016 to 14 May 2017, a total of 13,943 suspected cases, and 1,112 deaths, of meningitis have been reported from 24 states in Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Niger, between 1 January and 7 May 2017, there were 179 deaths from meningitis out of a total of 3,037 recorded cases, mainly in the west of the country, according to the Ministry of Health.
Medecins sans Frontiereres report.
The meningitis belt is getting hit this year!