Meningitis Kills 269 People In Nigeria

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Published Mar 30, 2017

We begin the hour in Nigeria where an outbreak of meningitis has killed 269 people in recent weeks. According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, 1,828 suspected cases of meningitis were reported in 15 of the country's 36 states. The centre said on its website that 33 people died of meningitis in 2016. The current outbreak is the worst in Nigeria since 2009 when it killed hundreds. The disease is spreading amidst fears it could be out of control if refugee camps, prisons and police cells become affected through crowds. The Nigerian government says that the current outbreak was caused by a new strain and thereby requires a different type of vaccine. Nigeria lies on the meningitis belt, stretching from the Sahel region to the Horn of Africa, where outbreaks occur regularly.