Historical perspective of pandemics in Nigeria

Abstract

Emergence and spread of infectious diseases with pandemic potential occurred regularly throughout history. Major pandemics and epidemics such as plague, cholera, flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have already afflicted humanity. Many infectious diseases leading to pandemics are caused by zoonotic pathogens that were transmitted to humans due to increased contacts with animals through breeding, hunting and global trade activities. The understanding of the mechanisms of transmission of pathogens to humans allowed the establishment of methods to prevent and control infections. During centuries, implementation of public health measures such as isolation, quarantine and border control helped to contain the spread of infectious diseases and maintain the structure of the society. Global surveillance programs of water-borne pathogens, vectorborne diseases and zoonotic spillovers at the animal-human interface are of prime importance to rapidly detect the emergence of infectious threats. Pandemics had also occurred variously in Nigeria ranging from the Flu, the yellow fever, the lassa fever, the ebola fever and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and had taken a serious toll on the nation‘s population, economy and standard of living. In each of these cases, the country seemed ill-prepared for it, but somehow, manages to scale through them. It is hoped that the nation would put mechanisms and structures in place, to contain any future pandemic.