ABUJA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least seven deaths have been confirmed following an outbreak of yellow fever in Nigeria's northeast region, a local health official said Friday.
The two northeastern states of Bauchi and Borno have been affected by the outbreak which became known to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on August 29.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of the NCDC, said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Abuja that the first confirmed case of yellow fever in Bauchi was from a patient who visited the Yankari Game Reserve in the state last month, with his father.
While the boy was treated, the father died with similar symptoms before a sample could be collected and tested, the statement said.
On September 3, six students from a college of education in Borno were confirmed dead after showing symptoms of yellow fever.
"These students visited the Yankari Game Reserve in August. Of the 95 students that visited the resort, eight of them developed symptoms and six had died," the statement said.
The other 89 students are in a stable condition, the statement added.
To tackle the outbreak, the official noted that the disease control agency had deployed a rapid response team to support the state to carry out further in-depth investigations.
The yellow fever is mostly caused by a type of mosquitoes called "Aedes Aepyti" found in the tropics and sub-tropics. It is transmitted from person to person through mosquitoes, although there are also forest monkeys that transmit it.
Local experts said the disease often manifests fever, typhoid, among other symptoms and if not detected on time, will affect the blood and the victims will experience renal failure and possible coma.
