The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday raised the alarm that 160 million of Nigeria’s 200 million population are at risk of Yellow Fever disease. WHO said the figure represents 25% of all the people at risk of Yellow Fever in Africa.

This is the outcome of a research work made available to the media on August 5. The report also said that the federal government of Nigeria vaccinated over 45 million people against yellow fever during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Warning that deadly outbreaks of Yellow Fever might occur, the report said: “New films show the impact of yellow fever outbreaks in Taraba State, and the global efforts to eliminate yellow fever epidemics by 2026.”

In the report, a health specialist and medical officer of WHO, Dr Anne Eudes Jean Baptiste, was quoted as saying: “Nigeria’s population is around 200 million people, with 160 million people at risk of yellow fever. This makes up around 25% of all the people at risk in Africa.Yellow fever is a virus transmitted by infected mosquitoes.”

“Yellow Fever is dangerous because a small percentage of patients will go through a more toxic phase of the disease. By then they will experience fever, have system failure, mainly in the kidney and liver. They may experience bleeding coming from the mouth, nose and eyes and within 7 to 10 days, half of them will die,” the expert explained.

It is feared that Nigeria being home to some of the world’s most densely populated cities, the country is at risk of both urban and sylvatic (jungle) exposure to the disease.

According to the report, “Sylvatic exposure is the transmission of yellow fever from mosquitos that have bitten animals and non-human primates. Workers in mining and agriculture are particularly vulnerable to this type of transmission”.

The report said in addition, “In 2017, there was a resurgence in yellow fever in Nigeria after 15 years. This is due to gaps in detection of the disease rather than lack of transmission of the virus and the cyclical nature of sylvatic transmission. As surveillance and laboratory testing have been strengthened, improved information about the distribution of the disease in humans has become available.

Dr Ifedayo M. O Adetifa, Director General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NDDC), explains: “We have strengthened surveillance considerably. We have reference laboratories in the country that have been strengthened, and are being supported and assessed to make sure they are meeting all the performance parameters in terms of sample collection and referral to our reference labs in Abuja.

“Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have given out over 66 million doses in 2020 and 2021 to protect people from yellow fever outbreaks. This achievement has been possible through routine immunization, as well as mass vaccination campaigns that identify gaps in the population and proactively target vulnerable communities.”

Dr Adetifa features in a second film that documents the roll-out of a vaccination campaign in Taraba State, and brings to light the global effort required to keep Nigerians safe.

“This number was estimated at the time of the filming. Actual number for preventive and reactive mass vaccination campaigns is 45 million during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In 2016, deadly outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with spread to China, put the African continent on notice for this disease. The EYE Strategy, a partnership between the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, was set up in response and identified Nigeria as a high-risk country”.