Lassa fever cases have increased in Nigeria since 2016 with the highest number, 633 cases, reported in 2018. From 1 January to 28 April 2019, 554 laboratory-confirmed cases including 124 deaths were reported in 21 states in Nigeria. A public health emergency was declared on 22 January by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. We describe the various outbreak responses that have been implemented, including establishment of emergency thresholds and guidelines for case management.

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This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving adults' use of primary dental care services in order to improve their oral health and quality of life. Interventions for improving adults' use of primary oral health care services (Protocol)

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Introduction event-based surveillance (EBS) is a surveillance method involving systematic and prompt data collection on incidents of public health importance, and complements the current indicator-based surveillance system and the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDSR). It also promotes a rapid assessment and response to public health emergencies in Nigeria, although there is a lack of information regarding the status of EBS among Public Health Stakeholders in Nigeria; hence our study aimed to assess the awareness, availability, and utility of EBS among Nigerian public health stakeholders. Methods we conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the awareness, availability, functionality, and utilization of EBS in the 36 States in Nigeria, plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). We interviewed 53 stakeholders in disease surveillance and response using a self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire to obtain responses on the awareness of the event-based surveillance system, availability, and functionality. We also assessed the common structures used to report health-related events and the availability of minimum requirements for an event-based surveillance system. We performed descriptive statistics for the data obtained. Results the majority of respondents were males and 37.7% were disease surveillance and notification officers (DSNOs). Awareness of EBS was poor with about half, 49% of the respondents reported hearing of EBS, but only 17% described it correctly. The overall level of availability of the EBS reporting structure was inadequate, 28.2% and poorly utilised in the States. Conclusion the awareness, availability, and utilization of event-based surveillance systems are low in Nigeria. The government should improve the feasibility and utility of EBS in the States to enhance early disease detection and response.