Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as a global health crisis, with 3,855,788 infected persons and 256,862 deaths worldwide as of May 9, 2020. In Nigeria, the first case of the pandemic was reported by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control on February 27, 2020. Between the dates when the index case was reported and May 9, 2020, the nation has recorded a total of 4151 confirmed COVID-19 cases from 25,951 samples screened and 745 (18%) cases discharged with 128 deaths indicating a case fatality rate of 3.1%. Thirty-four (34) States and the Federal Capital Territory have recorded coronavirus disease. The most affected States in Nigeria is Lagos (epicentre of COVID-19) with 1764 cases, followed by 576 cases in Kano states and only one COVID-19 case in Anambra State 42 days since the last report of index case. Demographically, a total of 2828 male subjects have been infected representing 68% and 1323 female subjects representing 32%. The age group 31 - 40 years is mostly affected accounting for 24%. The number of people with travel history is 210 (5%), 947 (23%) contacts, 2618 (63%) without epidemiological link and 376 (9%) with an incomplete information. Nigeria is currently witnessing community transmission of COVID-19. Some observed issues aiding community transmission of COVID-19 in Nigeria are: the distrust of some Nigeria citizens towards government on COVID-19 management, poverty, religious beliefs, ignorance on face mask sharing, low level of informed populace, misconceptions, stigmatization of infected individuals, poor health facilities, inadequate testing Centre, shortage of health workers, poor treatment among others. Effective people’s health preventive behaviour and community-based health policy and strategies to mitigate these challenges are therein suggested.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2020) Disease Background of COVID-19: Rapid Risk Assessment: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the EU/EEA and the UK—Ninth Update.
WMHC (2020) Wuhan Municipal Health and Health Commission’s Briefing on the Current Pneumonia Epidemic Situation in Our City. https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (2020) https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/cumulative-cases
Adhikari, S.P., Meng, S., Wu, Y.-J., Mao, Y.-P., Ye, R.-X., Wang, Q.-Z., Sun, C., Sylvia, S., Rozelle, S., Raat, H. and Zhou, H. (2020) Epidemiology, Causes, Clinical Manifestation and Diagnosis, Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) during the Early Outbreak Period: A Scoping Review. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 9, Article No. 29. https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x
WHO (2020) Novel Coronavirus—China. https://www.who.int/csr/don/12-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-china/en/
Mcleod, V. (2020) COVID-19: A History of Coronavirus. Lab Health and Safety.
Zhu, N., Zhang, D.Y., Wang, W.L., Li, X.W., Yang, B., Song, J.D., et al. (2020) A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. The New England Journal of Medicine, 382, 727-733. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001017
WHO (2020) Novel Coronavirus—Japan (ex-China). https://www.who.int/csr/don/17-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-japan-ex-china/en/
John Hopkins University (2020) The Role of Genomic Sequencing in Combating COVID-19: COVID-19 Information and Resource for John Hopkin University.
Fehr, A.R., Channappanavar, R. and Perlman, S. (2017) Middle East Respiratory Syndrome: Emergence of a Pathogenic Human Coronavirus. Annual Review of Medicine, 68, 387-399. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-med-051215-031152
WHO (2020) Statement on the Second Meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee Regarding the Outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) 2020. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/30-01-2020-statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)
Sah, R., Rodriguez-Morales, A.J., Jha. R., Chu, D.K.W., Gu. H., Peiris, M., Bastola, A., Lal, B.K., Ojha, H.C., Rabaan, A.A., Zambrano, L.I., Costello, A., Morita, K., Pandey, B.D. and Poon, L.L.M. (2020) Complete Genome Sequence of a 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Strain Isolated in Nepal. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 9, e00169-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.00169-20
Huang, C., Wang, Y., Li, X., Ren. L., Zhao, J., Hu, Y., Zhang, L., Fan, G., Xu, J., Gu, X., Cheng, Z., Yu, T., Xia, J., Wei, Y., Wu, W., Xie, X., Yin, W., Li, H., Liu. M., Xiao, Y., Gao, H., Guo, L., Xie, J., Wang, G., Jiang, R., Gao, Z., Jin, Q., Wang, J. and Cao, B. (2020) Clinical Features of Patients Infected with 2019 Novel Coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet, 395, 497-506. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5
Kumar, D., Malviya, R. and Sharma, K.P. (2020) Corona Virus: A Review of COVID-19. EJMO, 4, 8-25. https://doi.org/10.14744/ejmo.2020.51418
Wang, W., Xu, Y.L., Gao, R.R., et al. (2020) Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Different Types of Clinical Specimens. JAMA, 323, 1843-1844. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.3786
WHO (2020) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Situation Report-73.
Li, Q., Guan, X., Wu, P., Wang, X., Zhou, L., Tong, Y., et al. (2020) Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. New England Journal of Medicine, 382, 1199-1207.
National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China (2020) Prevent Guideline of 2019-nCoV. http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/yqfkdt/202001/bc661e49b5bc487dba182f5c49ac445b.shtml
Su, S., Wong, G., Shi, W., Liu, J., Lai, A.C.K., Zhou, J., Liu, W.J., Bi, Y.H. and Gao, G.F. (2016) Epidemiology, Genetic Recombination, and Pathogenesis of Coronaviruses. Trend in Microbiology, 24, 490-502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2016.03.003
Chen, Y., Liu, Q. and Guo, D. (2020) Coronaviruses: Genome Structure, Replication, and Pathogenesis. Journal of Medical Virology, 92, 418-423. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25681
Carvalho, T. (2020) COVID-19 Research in Brief. Nature Medicine.
Roujian, L., Zhao, X., Li, J., Niu, P., Yang, B., Wu, H., et al. (2020) Genomic Characterisation and Epidemiology of 2019 Novel Coronavirus: Implications for Virus Origins and Receptor Binding. Lancet, 395, 565-574.
Vaduganathan, M., Vardeny, O., Michel, T., McMurray, J.J.V., Marc, A., Solomon, S.D., et al. (2020) Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors in Patients with Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 382, 1653-1659. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr2005760
Zhou, P., Yang, X.L., Wang, X.G., Hu, B., Zhang, L., Zhang, W., et al. (2020) Discovery of a Novel Coronavirus Associated with the Recent Pneumonia Outbreak in Humans and Its Potential Bat Origin. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.22.914952
Li, W., Zhang, C., Sui, J., et al. (2005) Receptor and Viral Determinants of SARS-Coronavirus Adaptation to Human ACE2. The EMBO Journal, 24, 1634-1643. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.emboj.7600640
Wrapp, D., Wang, N., Corbett, K.S., et al. (2020) Cryo-EM Structure of the 2019-nCoV Spike in the Prefusion Conformation. Science, 376, 1260-1263. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb2507
Angeletti, S., Benvenuto, D., Bianchi, M., Giovanetti, M., Pascarella, S. and Ciccozzi, M. (2020) COVID-2019: The Role of the nsp2 and nsp3 in Its Pathogenesis. Journal of Medical Virology, 92, 584-588. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25719
Li, D., Jin, M., Bao, P., Zhao, W. and Zhang, S. (2020) Clinical Characteristics and Results of Semen Test among Men with Coronavirus Disease. JAMA Network Open, 3, e208292. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8292
Liu, J., Liao, X., Qian, S., et al. (2020) Community Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Shenzhen, China, 2020. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26, 1320-1323. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2606.200239
Chan, J., Yuan, S., Kok, K. et al. (2020) A Familial Cluster of Pneumonia Associated with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Indicating Person-to-Person Transmission: A Study of a Family Cluster. Lancet, 395, 514-523. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30154-9
Lauer, S.A., Grantz, K.H., Bi, Q., et al. (2020) The Incubation Period of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) from Publicly Reported Confirmed Cases: Estimation and Application. Annals Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-0504
Wolfel, R., Corman, V., Guggemos, W., et al. (2020) Virological Assessment of Hospitalized Cases of Coronavirus Disease.
Yu, P., Zhu, J., Zhang, Z. and Han, Y. (2020) A Familial Cluster of Infection Associated with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Indicating Possible Person-to-Person Transmission during the Incubation Period. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 221, 1757-1761. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa077
Pan, X., Chen, D., Xia, Y., et al. (2020) Asymptomatic Cases in a Family Cluster with SARS-CoV-2 Infection. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 20, 410-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30114-6
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2020) Situation Update Worldwide, as of 30 April 2020. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide
Ruth, M. (2020) Africa Braces for Coronavirus but Slowly, the New York Times.
Abdulazeez, A. (2020) More Preparedness on Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Nigeria. Pan African Journal of Life Sciences, 4, 200-203.
World Health Organization Regional Office Africa (2020) COVID-19 WHO Africa Update 30 April, 2020.
NCDC (2020) COVID-19 Outbreak in Nigeria Situation Report.