The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr. Jide Idris, has raised alarm over the rising threat of infectious diseases in Nigeria, warning that misdiagnosis and underreporting could lead to greater public health dangers.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Dr. Idris expressed concern that many Nigerians mistake dengue fever, yellow fever, and similar illnesses for common malaria due to overlapping symptoms and poor diagnostic practices.
“Unfortunately, people are experiencing these fevers and treating them as malaria without proper medical testing,” Idris noted. “The more cases go unreported, the more dangerous the situation becomes for all of us.”
He revealed that some recent dengue fever cases went undetected for up to three weeks, as patients self-medicated or received incorrect treatment before proper diagnosis was made. He stressed that timely medical attention and accurate reporting are essential to controlling outbreaks.
The NCDC boss also appealed to healthcare professionals, especially those in tertiary institutions with advanced diagnostic capabilities, to immediately notify the State Ministry of Health and the NCDC whenever they detect any such case.
“Once a diagnosis is made, there must be prompt reporting through the right channels to ensure swift national response,” he said. “Delays cost lives.”
This warning comes just days after the Federal Government issued a national alert on July 18, 2025, confirming ongoing outbreaks of several infectious diseases including cholera, Mpox, diphtheria, dengue fever, and yellow fever.
The NCDC has called for heightened vigilance, public cooperation, and intensified response efforts across all sectors to mitigate what it described as “serious public health risks.”
Dr. Idris emphasized that Nigerians must take the alert seriously: “We are facing multiple health threats simultaneously. Early detection and reporting are the best ways to protect lives and contain these outbreaks.”
