{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T04:33:10Z","timestamp":1787891590379,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]],"date-time":"2024-12-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1734480000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0In the past 20 years, Nigeria has confronted an array of six significant infectious disease outbreaks, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Lassa fever, meningitis, diphtheria, cholera and Ebola. Although the country has generally managed to address most of these infections effectively, there are still some shortcomings in the nation\u2019s public health response.\n\nAim:\u00a0This review examined the six most significant outbreaks of infectious diseases and the corresponding public health responses, evaluating the strengths and limitations of the country\u2019s public health system.\n\nSetting:\u00a0This study focused on Nigeria. Nigeria is regarded as a country with the largest population in Africa.\n\nMethod:\u00a0A narrative review approach was employed, which entailed identifying pertinent literature using search terms with various Boolean combinations derived from multiple electronic databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) database, the Web of Science and Africa Journals Online.\n\nResults:\u00a0The key strengths of Nigeria\u2019s public health system include surveillance, workforce development, prevention at entry points, risk communication and establishment of national reference libraries. However, the study also identified several areas of weakness, such as inadequate funding, inadequate efforts at the subnational level, poor coordination between public health and security authorities, a lack of integration between the animal and human health sectors, inadequate biosafety and biosecurity policies and programmes and logistical complexities.\n\nConclusion:\u00a0Despite the strengths, there are still weaknesses within Nigeria\u2019s public health system response to infectious diseases.\n\nContribution:\u00a0The study outlined the various strengths and weaknesses of the Nigeria Public health system in combating infectious disease. Therefore, it is recommended that funding be increased, poverty and inequalities are addressed, efforts at the subnational level be increased, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the public health sector and security authorities be established.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/jphia.v15i1.773","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,9]],"date-time":"2025-01-09T06:38:44Z","timestamp":1736404724000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Nigeria\u2019s public health response to disease outbreaks: A review of strengths and weaknesses"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7779-6375","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Japhet H.","family":"Jonah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"FHI360"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-6934-6947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriel","family":"Samuel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ruhr Universit\u00e4t"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-9342-6144","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammed I.","family":"Abdullahi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool John Mores University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-2682-0230","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edwin A.","family":"Emmanuel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mediar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5562-537X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samuel S.","family":"Danladi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/019apvn83","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Ahmadu Bello University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0153-5475","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Celestine E.","family":"Ekwuluo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Medical Corps (IMC)"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","unstructured":"Statista. 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