Meningitis outbreak kills 438 in Nigeria, as government starts vaccination

‘Death toll from suspected cases of meningitis has reached 438 people in Nigeria, as officials kick off a vaccination campaign aimed at controlling the outbreak.
According to a statement issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 3,959 suspected cases have been reported in the outbreak in 19 states across the country, 181 of which are laboratory-confirmed.
The current type C meningitis outbreak in Nigeria is a rare form of the disease, as the country had mainly experienced type A meningitis outbreaks.
The most affected group has been children aged five to 14.
On Thursday, officials started a massive vaccination campaign in the northeastern state of Zamfara, the center of the outbreak, which targets 500,000 people aged 2–29 years.’
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