Health
Niger investigates suspected infectious disease after child’s death
The Niger State government has launched an investigation into a suspected infectious disease following the death of a child and reports that other members of the same family have fallen ill.
The state Director of Public Health, Ibrahim Idris, disclosed this in a statement issued in Minna on Thursday by the Ministry of Information and Orientation.
Mr Idris said the Ministry of Health responded after a father shared videos on social media alleging that a strange illness had affected members of his household.
He said the swift response demonstrated the state’s commitment to protecting residents through prompt public health action.
He said the prompt intervention reflected the commitment of the Governor Umaru Bago-led administration to safeguarding the health and well-being of residents across the state through timely public health responses.
According to him, every unexplained death deserves a thorough investigation, while every suspected outbreak must be treated with urgency to prevent possible transmission and protect public health.
The director said the affected children had been evacuated to a health facility for comprehensive medical evaluation and treatment as health authorities intensified efforts to determine the cause.
He said preliminary clinical findings suggested that the illness might not be a strange disease but one familiar to medical experts, with diphtheria among the conditions being considered.
“At this stage, no definitive conclusion can be made until laboratory investigations are completed,” he said.
“The samples collected will help determine the exact cause of the illness and guide the response.”
Mr Idris said public health officials had commenced contact tracing in the affected community and in the schools attended by the children to identify similar cases and contain any possible transmission.
He advised parents and caregivers to ensure their children completed all recommended routine immunisation schedules, noting that many life-threatening illnesses could be prevented through vaccination.
The director urged residents to seek prompt medical attention whenever unusual symptoms were observed, stressing that early detection and treatment remained critical to disease control efforts.
Also, Junaidu Inuwa, executive director of the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency (NSPHCDA), said preliminary findings showed the deceased child had received only partial immunisation.
He said some of the surviving children were either partially immunised or had not completed their vaccination schedules, exposing them to vaccine-preventable diseases and associated health complications.
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According to him, the development underscores the critical importance of routine immunisation in protecting children against vaccine-preventable diseases and reducing childhood mortality across communities.
Mr Inuwa said health officials also visited the isolation centre at the General Hospital, where affected family members had been placed on appropriate antibiotic treatment and were receiving care.
He said health authorities would continue to provide timely updates as investigations progressed and would intensify surveillance, contact tracing, and other interventions if the illness was confirmed to be infectious.
He reiterated that complete immunisation remained the safest and most effective protection against vaccine-preventable diseases and urged parents to utilise vaccination services available across the state. (NAN)
A British national has tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UK government has confirmed.
According to the BBC, the British man tested positive for the virus while in the DRC. Reuters subsequently reported that he would be medically evacuated to the UK for specialist treatment. However, the exact time of the evacuation was not immediately known.
This marks the first confirmed case of a British national contracting the virus during the ongoing outbreak in the DRC, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives.
Ebola is a viral disease that can cause severe illness and spreads mainly through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person.
Symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, muscle pain, weakness, and diarrhoea.
“The UK has well-established procedures for dealing with cases like this, and those processes have been activated,” a UK government spokesperson was quoted as saying.
“Further information will be shared in due course as appropriate. The risk to the UK public from Ebola remains low.”
Ebola outbreak
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus, and was first declared in DRC in May 2026.
According to the latest figures from the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the outbreak had recorded 10,563 confirmed cases and 5,130 deaths across five countries as of 1 November 2026.
The DRC accounts for the majority of the cases, with 10,532 confirmed cases and 5,126 deaths. The outbreak has affected eight provinces in the country.
Kenya has recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths, while Uganda has recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, alongside one probable case and one probable death.
Nigeria confirmed its first case on 20 October after a traveller with a history of travel to Uganda tested positive for the virus. The patient was subsequently medically evacuated to Switzerland for treatment.
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According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 62 contacts linked to the Nigerian case had been identified and were under follow-up as of 29 October.
Symptoms and transmission
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has explained that Ebola survivors may transmit the virus through sexual intercourse if it persists in their semen after recovery.
However, survivors who have met the criteria for discharge from treatment are not expected to transmit the virus through sweat or saliva, as the virus is cleared from their blood.
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Six proven climate and health interventions could prevent 1.6 million deaths annually and generate trillions of dollars in economic benefits if implemented globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed.
The measures, which include heat-health warning systems, access to safe water and sanitation, cleaner household energy and more efficient fossil fuel pricing policies, could generate $3.9 trillion in annual economic welfare benefits and a further $5.4 trillion in fiscal gains.
The WHO disclosed this in a new report titled ‘Global benefits and costs of prioritised actions on climate change and health’, released ahead of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), where countries are expected to present their climate commitments.
According to the report, the six interventions could prevent one in every 40 deaths globally, based on modelled projections, while avoiding 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The estimated emissions reduction is equivalent to 31 per cent of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, excluding emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry.
The report, which the WHO described as its first comprehensive assessment of the economic and fiscal returns from scaling up the six recommended interventions, highlights the potential health and financial gains of integrating public health considerations into climate policies.
It argues that many health consequences of climate change are preventable through existing solutions, but governments must implement them across health and other sectors that determine people’s health.
Six interventions
The report identifies six interventions: heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking-water services, basic sanitation services, hygiene and handwashing facilities, cleaner household fuels and technologies for cooking and heating, and efficient fossil fuel pricing policies.
The WHO estimates that five of the interventions could generate $24 in benefits for every $1 invested, with returns expected to be greater in low- and middle-income countries.
Heat-health warning systems are projected to deliver particularly high returns, generating an estimated $835 in benefits for every $1 invested.
The report attributes the high returns to the relatively low cost of expanding existing warning systems and their potential to prevent heat-related illnesses.
Efficient fossil fuel pricing policies, however, are projected to deliver the largest overall gains.
Such policies, including removing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and appropriately taxing fossil fuels, could prevent 1.2 million deaths annually while generating $3 trillion in economic welfare benefits and $5.4 trillion in fiscal gains.
Health at the centre of climate action
Commenting on the findings, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the climate crisis was also a health crisis, but many of its consequences could be prevented using existing interventions.
READ ALSO: WHO raises alarm as 75% of diabetes cases in Africa remain undiagnosed
He said expanding proven and affordable interventions could save millions of lives, particularly in countries with the greatest need.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis, but much of the harm it causes can be prevented with tools we already have,” he said.
Mr Ghebreyesus urged governments to place health considerations at the centre of climate action as they prepare for the next round of international climate negotiations.
The WHO said countries were already experiencing record-breaking climate shocks in 2026, investing in measures that protect human health and the environment increasingly urgent.
The health body called on governments, development partners and financing institutions to use the economic evidence to scale up the interventions, noting that they could deliver simultaneous benefits for public health, climate mitigation and national economies.
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