Nigeria first to use new meningitis vaccine

Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out the new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis, the World Health Organisation says.

Nigeria is one of the hotspots of the deadly disease in Africa.

Last year, a 50 per cent rise in annual cases was reported across 26 African countries regarded as meningitis hyperendemic countries, according to the WHO.

"Nigeria's rollout brings us one step closer to our goal to eliminate meningitis by 2030," Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, was quoted as saying in a statement.

Between last October and mid-March this year, 1742 cases were suspected in the country, with 153 deaths recorded in seven states, data from the WHO shows.

The new vaccine is reported to protect against the five major strains of the disease that are prevalent in Nigeria, unlike the initial vaccine that works against only one strain.