The disease control and prevention centers (CDC) of the United States have promised support to Nigeria to strengthen the surveillance of acute febrile disease (AFI).
AFI is a sudden start of fever, with or without other symptoms, caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa or fungi. It affects all age groups, but it is more common among children and young adults.
In a round media table in Abuja, the Director of the Global Health Protection Division (DGHP), the CDCs of the USA, Dr. Farah Husain, said that the initiative aims to build a sustainable system to detect and manage febrile diseases.
He explained that the effort will help determine the load, causes and spread of diseases while improving the Nigeria outbreak response.
Dr. Husain added that the Association with the Nigeria Disease Control and Prevention Center (NCDC) focuses on early detection, greater laboratory capacity and better data management.
“These efforts will allow faster and more effective responses to the disease prone to the epidemic throughout the country,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of the media in public health communication. “Its role is central to ensure that the precise, timely and evidence -based information reaches the public,” he said.
The main specialist in public health for epidemic surveillance in the US CDCs. Nigeria, Dr. Oladipupu Ipadeola, said the surveillance system is designed to improve the detection of disease prone to epidemic, guide public health decisions and strengthen the laboratory and epidemiological capacity.
He pointed out that the bad diagnostic capacity often leads to an erroneous diagnosis of fevers, mainly as malaria.
To close this gap, the US CDCs, working with NCDC, State Health Ministries, has established sentinel surveillance sites in six health facilities in Abuja, Bauchi, Kaduna, Lagos, Benin and Enugu. The sites monitor diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Lassa fever, mpox, zika, western Nile virus, Sars-Cov-2 and malaria.
According to CDC, the program, which began in 2021, has already contributed to the early detection of outbreaks, including an outbreak of dengue fever in the state of Edo, where 194 cases were confirmed.
“The initiative also provides data on the distribution and coinfection of febrile diseases in Nigeria, while supporting the training of health workers and the provision of diagnostic reagents,” he said.
The CDC confirmed that AFI surveillance has now been delivered to the NCDC, with a continuous technical and financial support of the partners. Dr. Ipadeola added that the program has improved Nigeria’s ability to detect, analyze and respond to febrile diseases, despite the challenges such as the delays of the samples and the wear and tear of the staff.
The general director of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, represented by Dr. Fatima Saleh, described the surveillance of AFI as a “change of play” for preparation for Nigeria outbreaks. “We praise the United States disease control and prevention centers (CDC) and other partners for their collaboration in the establishment of the system,” he said.
He explained that the surveillance system will strengthen early alert systems by identifying threats that could otherwise go unnoticed. He added that timely detection would help Nigeria prevent generalized outbreaks and improve health safety.
Dr. Saleh also recognized the support of partners such as the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), noting that collaboration is key to maintaining the project.
However, at the FCT Sentinel site, Dr. Ifeyinwa Kate highlighted the operational challenges.
She said that energy supply interruptions have affected the storage of long -term samples, which forced the site to suspend freezing and, instead, send samples immediately to the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for the tests.
She emphasized that fixing such challenges is essential to maintain AFI functional surveillance and strengthen Nigeria’s general preparation.
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