By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, has confirmed the death of a 40 year old patient of Monkeypox amid 21 suspected cases in the country.
The agency said that the 40-year-old dead patient had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications.
The NCDC website on Monkeypox Emergency operations gave a breakdown on Monkeypox infection as at 29th May 2022 , as follows a total of 21 confirmed cases with one death have been reported from 9 states and the FCT – Adamawa (5), Lagos (4), Bayelsa (2), Delta (2), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Imo (1), Rivers (1).
The agency said that Genomic surveillance and laboratory test carried out showed that so far all of the cases have been confirmed to be caused by West Africa clade Monkeypox virus.
Also among the 21 cases reported in the year o far, there has been no evidence of any new or unusual transmission of the virus.
Furthermore the agency noted that Nigeria’s risk of exposure to the Monkeypox virus is high based on the recent risk assessment conducted at NCDC, while the current situation in-country and globally has shown no significant threat to life , adding that the EOC will continue to monitor the evolving situation to inform public health action accordingly.
Symptoms of monkeypox include sudden fever, headache, body pain, weakness, sore throat, enlargement of glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and under the jaw, followed by the appearance of a rash (often solid or fluid-filled at the onset) on the face, palms, soles of the feet, genitals and other parts of the body. The Monkeypox public health advisory can be accessed via – https://ncdc.gov.ng/news/367/public-health-advisory-on-monkeypox.
Meanwhile the NCDC advise the public to remain aware of the risk of Monkeypox and adhere to public health safety measures and report to the nearest health facility if they notice the known signs and symptoms of the disease.
Healthcare workers are to maintain a high index of suspicion for Monkeypox and report any suspected case to the relevant state Epidemiology Team for prompt public health intervention including sampling for confirmatory testing.
