The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) has warned that Nigeria’s weak laboratory capacity for detecting Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) is causing misdiagnosis, underdiagnoses, and wrong treatment of patients.
The agency raised this concern on Wednesday during a media roundtable in Abuja. The session focused on its support for AFI surveillance in Nigeria, in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and other partners.
Experts explained that fixing gaps such as poor testing facilities, weak policies, and low diagnostic capacity is key to improving AFI surveillance in the country.
According to Oladipupo Ipadeola, Senior Public Health Specialist for Epidemiology and Surveillance at the US CDC Nigeria, AFI is an illness that starts suddenly with fever, sometimes with other symptoms.
He said AFI can be caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, or fungi. It is more common among children and young adults but can affect anyone.
Ipadeola added that AFI symptoms often overlap with other diseases, making diagnosis difficult, especially with Nigeria’s limited laboratory capacity.
He explained that AFI surveillance is vital for early detection of infectious disease outbreaks, understanding how they spread, and taking control measures.
“Surveillance means systematically monitoring cases of sudden fever, usually lasting for a short time,” he said. “In Nigeria, weak lab capacity has led to many misdiagnosed or missed AFI cases, which in turn causes wrong treatment of patients.”
He stressed that Nigeria must fix gaps like poor diagnostic facilities, lack of policy, and uneven spread of testing centres. This would help health authorities strengthen both surveillance and lab systems.
Ipadeola noted that the Federal Government is already making efforts, such as boosting surveillance, running malaria control programmes, improving vaccinations, and working with partners to upgrade health systems.
He said the US CDC and NCDC have already set up sentinel surveillance sites across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Over 11,000 samples have been tested for priority diseases like malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Lassa fever, and COVID-19.
To boost capacity, laboratories were upgraded with new equipment, multiplex PCR testing was introduced, and staff were trained.
Ipadeola explained that AFI surveillance is a central part of the US CDC’s global health security work. It helps identify disease trends, detect co-infections, and strengthen diagnostics in Nigeria.
He added that since August 2024, the programme’s coordination has been handed over to the NCDC, while the US CDC continues to supply technical support, rapid test kits, and lab reagents.
In her opening remarks, Farah Husain, Programme Director at the Division of Global Health Protection, US CDC Nigeria, stressed the importance of AFI surveillance. She said AFI is among the most common but least understood health problems.
Husain explained that a strong surveillance system will help Nigeria know the causes, burden, and spread of such diseases, making outbreak responses faster and better.
She said, “Our goal is to improve early detection, strengthen labs, build stronger data systems, and make Nigeria respond better to outbreaks.”
Also speaking, Fatima Saleh, NCDC’s Director of Surveillance, called for stronger surveillance systems, improved response capacity, and wider outreach.
She urged more advocacy across all levels of government to ensure sustained support, evidence-based actions, and better protection of Nigerians’ health.
