FG, US-CDC to Intensify Surveillance on Prevalence of Acute Fever Illness

•194 cases of dengue fever reported in Edo

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government and the United States Centre for Disease Control (US-CDC) have recommitted to expanding national surveillance and diagnosis on the prevalence of Acute Febrile (AFI), a form of fever that comes with sudden high temperature.

US-CDC said through the AFI surveillance programme, Nigeria detected a large outbreak of dengue fever in Edo State in 2025. 

“As of September 7, 2025, 194 confirmed cases of Dengue Fever have been recorded in six local government areas of the state,” the centre said.

AFI is an illness characterised by the rapid onset of fever, with or without other symptoms.

Unlike malaria, AFI can be caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, which are more prevalent in children and young adults but can affect all age groups. It is characterised by symptoms overlap and limited laboratory diagnostic capacity.

Speaking at a media roundtable hosted by US-CDC, in conjunction with the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria, in Abuja on Wednesday, Senior Public Health Specialist, Epidemiology and Surveillance of the Centre, Dr. Oladipupo Ipadeiola, said US-CDC was collaborating with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), state ministries of health, and other implementing partners to carry out AFI surveillance.

Ipadeiola explained that the exercise would help strengthen disease outbreak detection and response. He said the initiative had led to the setting up of a sentinel surveillance system in six health facilities across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

According to him, the initiative is targeting diseases, such as malaria, dengue, Chikungunya, Yellow fever, Lassa fever, mpox, Zika, West-Nile fever, and COVID-19.

He added that over 11,000 samples from febrile patients attending the facilities had been collected and tested.

Ipadeiola said multiplex PCR testing capacity for the prioritised diseases had been installed at National Reference Laboratory in Abuja.

He, however, said Nigeria had limited laboratory diagnostic capacity for testing for AFI, which sometimes resulted in misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis of diseases, and inappropriate treatment and management of patients.

While answering questions from journalists on how to sustain the health campaign, the public health specialist said states could be encouraged to revitalise the laboratories set up in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak so that they could be used for testing for AFI.

He said the Nigerian government had shown commitment by implementing several strategies and initiatives to address acute febrile illnesses. 

Ipadeiola listed some of the key actions to include surveillance and monitoring to improve early detection and response, public health education campaigns, malaria control programmes, vaccination initiatives, strengthening healthcare infrastructure, and collaborating with partners to enhance AFI activities

In her remarks, Dr. Fatima Saleh, who represented Director-General of NCDC, said the centre was working on establishing a national surveillance structure for dengue fever.

While responding to a question from journalists, Executive Director, International Centre of Excellence, Professor Alash’le Abimiku, said the institute had continued to support Nigeria’s effort to ensure expansion in surveillance and accurate testing for all forms of AFI.

Focal Person for AFI Sentinel Site at Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Ifenyinwa Ejinkonye, said the testing centre was making remarkable progress in reporting data on the Acute Febrile Illness until recently due to some challenges.