As the Cerebrospinal Meningitis season reaches its peak in Nigeria, no fewer than 44 people have died from the disease, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has disclosed.

The agency said in preparation for this year’s outbreak, all states in the meningitis belt were formally placed on alert.

The meningitis outbreak is usually synonymous with the dry season; this begins around November and peaks around March and April, when the temperature is hottest before subsiding in June/July every year.

Since the onset of this year’s season, NCDC in its situation report said a total of 395 suspected cases have been reported from 14 states.

Out of these, 43 samples were positive for bacterial meningitis, most of the cases tested positive for the meningitis strain C, as there are several different types of meningococcal meningitis (A, C, W) that can cause epidemics.