By Blessing Bature, Abuja
Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed a total of 21 cases of MonkeyPox with one death.
The Agency also announced that it has activated a national multi-sectoral Emergency Operations Centre for Monkeypox (MPX-EOC) at level 2 to strengthen and coordinate ongoing response activities in the country.
This was contained in a statement issued by the centre, explaining that the measure taken was based on the report of a preliminary risk assessment done by a group of Subject Matter Experts from the NCDC, relevant government Ministries Departments and Agencies and partner agencies.
According to the statement, as at 29th May 2022, 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 death was reported in a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications. NCDC said that genomic surveillance is ongoing at NCDC’s National Reference Laboratory in Abuja and so far all of the cases have been confirmed to be caused by West Africa clade Monkeypox virus. The May 2022 Monkeypox situation report can be assessed.
Among the 21 cases reported in 2022 so far, there has been no evidence of any new or unusual transmission of the virus, nor changes in its clinical manifestation documented (including symptoms, profile and virulence).
