The federal government of Nigeria, in a significant collaborative effort with the United States Centre for Disease Control (US-CDC), has reaffirmed its commitment to enhance national surveillance and diagnostic capabilities for Acute Febrile Illness (AFI). AFI is characterized by a sudden onset of high temperature, with or without other accompanying symptoms, and differs from malaria as its causes can include bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. While more prevalent in children and young adults, it has the potential to affect all age groups, posing challenges due to symptom overlap and limited laboratory diagnostic capacity.

Through the ongoing AFI surveillance program, a notable success was the detection of a large dengue fever outbreak in Edo State in 2025. As of September 7, 2025, a total of 194 confirmed cases of dengue fever were recorded across six local government areas within the state, highlighting the critical importance of robust disease monitoring systems.

During a media roundtable hosted by the US-CDC in conjunction with the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria in Abuja, Dr. Oladipupo Ipadeiola, Senior Public Health Specialist in Epidemiology and Surveillance at the US-CDC, detailed the collaborative framework. The US-CDC is working alongside the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), state ministries of health, and other implementing partners to execute AFI surveillance. This comprehensive exercise aims to bolster disease outbreak detection and response mechanisms across the nation.

Dr. Ipadeiola further explained that this initiative has led to the establishment of a sentinel surveillance system strategically placed in six health facilities, one in each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. The system targets a broad spectrum of diseases, including malaria, dengue, Chikungunya, Yellow fever, Lassa fever, mpox, Zika, West-Nile fever, and COVID-19. To date, over 11,000 samples from febrile patients attending these facilities have been collected and rigorously tested. Furthermore, multiplex PCR testing capacity for these prioritized diseases has been successfully installed at the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja.

Despite these advancements, Dr. Ipadeiola acknowledged that Nigeria still faces limitations in laboratory diagnostic capacity for AFI, which can regrettably lead to misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis of diseases, subsequently resulting in inappropriate treatment and management of patients. Addressing questions on the sustainability of these health campaigns, he suggested that states could be encouraged to reactivate and repurpose laboratories initially set up during the COVID-19 outbreak for AFI testing. He also commended the Nigerian government for demonstrating strong commitment through various strategies and initiatives to combat acute febrile illnesses. Key actions include enhanced surveillance and monitoring for early detection, public health education campaigns, malaria control programs, vaccination drives, strengthening healthcare infrastructure, and fostering collaboration with partners to boost AFI activities.

In her contribution, Dr. Fatima Saleh, representing the Director-General of NCDC, affirmed that the centre is actively working towards establishing a robust national surveillance structure specifically for dengue fever. Professor Alash'le Abimiku, Executive Director of the International Centre of Excellence, also confirmed the institute's continued support for Nigeria’s efforts to expand surveillance and ensure accurate testing for all forms of AFI. Providing an on-the-ground perspective, Dr. Ifenyinwa Ejinkonye, Focal Person for the AFI Sentinel Site at Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja (FCT), reported that the testing centre had been making significant progress in data reporting on Acute Febrile Illness, though it recently faced some challenges.