The United States government, through its Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, has donated equipment and supplies to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to support Nigeria’s outbreak response laboratory activities.
Some states have continued to record outbreak of diseases such as malaria, Lassa fever, meningitis, and others in recent times.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, confirmed the outbreak of an unusual illness in six wards across Sokoto State, saying the agency has commenced an investigation into it.
Earlier, the Sokoto State government revealed that there were 35 new cases of Ascites disease in the Isa Local Government Area of the state.
Meanwhile, in a statement by the US Embassy in Abuja on Friday, the US donated biosafety cabinets, sample collection materials, essential laboratory commodities to ensure the quality and high outputs of Nigeria’s labs, and large amounts of personal protective equipment to help keep laboratory workers safe.
It read in part, “Laboratories across Nigeria are working diligently to quickly detect disease threats and confirm cases. Their efforts are a critical part of every outbreak response. The volume of work generated by the ongoing responses to Lassa fever, diphtheria, meningitis, and other diseases, creates a continued need for resources.
“To help meet this need, Dr Farah Husain the Programme Director for US CDC’s Division of Global Health Protection, led the donation from US CDC to NCDC.
Husain emphasised that laboratories were a cornerstone of outbreak responses and thanked laboratory scientists for their vital work and commitment.
She noted that the donation and the work it enabled would help save lives in the laboratories and in the communities affected by outbreaks.
“Following the event, US CDC will support the distribution of the supplies to sub-national laboratories and health facilities supporting emergency responses across Nigeria,” she added.
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