ABUJA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian health authorities on Wednesday confirmed nine people have been killed by a yellow fever outbreak in the southern state of Edo since last month.

Following an investigation into the yellow fever epidemic, 10 local government areas were confirmed to have been affected by the disease, David Osifo, commissioner for health in Edo, told reporters in state capital Benin.

"Already, nine persons have been reported dead so far since the epidemic was first reported. Seven among them did not make it to the hospital before they died," Osifo said.

On Nov. 24, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) issued a red alert on the yellow fever outbreak in the state.

Osifo said most of the victims aged between 14 and 20.

NCDC said it is working in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Edo State Epidemiology team, and other partners, to respond appropriately to the situation.

Since September 2017, Nigeria has recorded suspected cases of yellow fever in all states in the country.

As of Nov. 11, 140 cases of yellow fever had been confirmed by a local laboratory in Nigeria, according to data by the NCDC.

A multi-agency yellow fever Emergency Operations Centre has been established at NCDC to coordinate the national response. Enditem

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