The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), says it will commence Yellow Fever Preventive Mass Vaccination Campaign from November 24th to December 4th 2018.
The Acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat in FCT, Malam Bappah Adamu made this known while briefing journalists in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Secretary said the Mass campaign was based on the 2018 risk assessment which identified twenty states and FCT as high risk states.
Malam Bappah said that the phase one of the yellow fever vaccination campaign was completed in 2014, and it targeted three states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Nasarawa in which 10.4million people were covered.
According to him, the disease was caused by yellow fever virus and spread by the bite of an infested female Aedes Aegypti mosquito, a type of mosquito found throughout the tropics and subtropics.
“There is a safe and effective vaccine for the prevention of yellow fever expected to be administered routinely to all babies at nine months of age in line with the National Routine Immunisation Schedule. Some countries require vaccinations for travellers. Other efforts to prevent infections include prevention of bites from the infested mosquitoes and reducing the population of the transmitting mosquito. Early diagnosis of cases and immunisation of large parts of the population are important to prevent outbreaks,” he emphasised.
