12 March,2009 06:53 AM IST | | AFP
A meningitis outbreak has killed 931 people in four West African countries since January, with most deaths occurring in the continent's most populous nation Nigeria, the United Nations said.
"Four countries of West Africa are affected with a total of 13,516 cases and 931 deaths," the UN children's agency UNICEF said. "Nigeria is the most affected with 9,086 cases and 562 deaths.
Niger reports 2,620 cases and 113 deaths. Burkina Faso reports 1,756 cases and 250 deaths. Mali reports 54 cases and six deaths."
UNICEF warned that the authorities in Nigeria, where public health facilities are abysmal and poverty rampant despite its huge oil riches, faced an uphill task in tackling the crisis.
"In Nigeria, case management and a mass vaccination campaign are underway. The stock of vaccine may be insufficient regarding the epidemiological trends, especially in the districts in the north," it warned.
Health authorities placed northern Nigeria on a state of high alert in January following a meningitis outbreak in the town of Zinder in neighbouring Niger. Nigeria's largest northern state of Kano has been the worst hit thus far.
Meningitis causes inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord and has long wracked Africa, the world's poorest region.
