Health

Surgeons in the United States (US) have broken a world record by transplanting the heart of a pig into a dying man for the very first time in the world. Daily Mail reported on Monday that Surgeons transplanted a genetically-modified pig’s heart into a 57-year-old man, David Bennet, at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore on Saturday. The experimental surgery, which took about nine hours to complete required gene-editing on the pig’s heart, in order to remove sugar cells which would reduce the likelihood of the patient’s immune system from rejecting the transplanted organ.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has on Sunday issued a fresh warning over the increase in Lassa fever cases, totalling 4,632 recorded cases and 102 deaths. The centre warned Nigerians, saying it had sent letters to States on the dangers and symptoms to look out for, also, noting that there are possibilities of the disease presenting malaria-like symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat, general body weakness, and cough among others.

Update from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), shows about six persons have died in the last 24 hours following complications from the COVID-19 disease, with 670 fresh cases. The health agency, while making the announcement on Tuesday morning, revealed that the new cases were recorded in 10 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Lagos State Council of the National Association of Nigeria and Midwives (NANNM) has announced that it will be embarking on a three-day warning strike from January 10, over the government's failure to meet the association's demands.NANNM in a circular signed by the State Secretary, Oloruntoba Odumosu, with reference NANNM/LS/SEC/VOL.II/148/001, directing its members to embark on the strike.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) stated that no person resident in Nigeria has died as a result of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. This was disclosed to news reporters on Friday in Abuja by the Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa. He advised Nigerians to practice the health protocols issued by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 such as social distancing, wearing face masks, and reducing group sizes.

The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) alongside the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency (AEPA) has on Wednesday destroyed 1,066,242 doses of expired Oxford-Astrazeneca Coronavirus vaccines. The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib made the announcement while addressing journalists at the Idu dumpsite in Abuja.