By Chinyere Nwoye :
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has raised alarm on the rising cases of monkey pox in Nigeria.
It disclosed on Wednesday at Abuja that there are now 277 cases in the country.
While the disease has now spread to 30 states, the report also revealed that six deaths have been recorded so far in six states of the country.
According to the report, Nigeria currently accounts for seven out of 22 Monkeypox deaths globally.
This makes Nigeria the leading country with the highest number of monkeypox deaths in Africa and the world.
According to the WHO Health Emergency Dashboard, as of September 13, 2022, there were 58,285 confirmed cases from 104 countries with a cumulative of 22 deaths reported from 10 countries.
The suspected cases stand at 704 from January 1 to August 28, 2022. The report read;
“100 new suspected cases reported from August 22 to 28, 2022 from twenty-one states – Lagos 17; Abia 16;, Imo 14; Delta 7; Ondo 7; Bayelsa 5; Gombe 5; Rivers 4; Benue 3; Ebonyi 3; Edo 3; Plateau 3; FCT 2; Katsina 2; Osun 2; Taraba 2; Anambra 1; Enugu 1; Kano 1 and Oyo 1.
“Of the one hundred suspected cases, thirty-six new confirmed cases have been recorded in Epi week 34 from fourteen states – Lagos 7; Abia 6; Bayelsa 5; Edo 3; Ondo 3; Delta 2; Ebonyi 2; Rivers 2; Anambra 1; Benue 1; Gombe 1; Imo 1; Katsina 1 and Oyo 1.
“From January 1 to August 28, 2022, Nigeria has recorded 704 suspected cases with 277 confirmed cases (186 males, 91 females) from thirty states – Lagos 49; Ondo 22; Bayelsa 19; Rivers 1; Edo 26; Adamawa 15; Abia 15; Delta 14; FCT 11; Imo 11; Anambra 10; Nasarawa 9; Ogun 7; Plateau 6; Taraba 5; Kwara 5; Kano 5; Gombe 5; Ebonyi 5; Oyo 5; Katsina 5; Cross River 4; Benue 4; Borno 3; Kogi 3; Akwa Ibom 2; Niger 1; Bauchi 1; Osun 1 and Kaduna 1.
“Six associated deaths were recorded from 6 states in 2022 – Delta 1, Lagos 1, Ondo 1 and Akwa Ibom 1; Kogi 1 and Taraba 1, CFR 2.16%.
“Overall, since the re-emergence of monkeypox in September 2017, 1216 suspected cases have been reported from 35 states in the country.
“Of these, 503 (41%) confirmed cases were recorded with Male representing 66% (334) from 32 states – Lagos 79; Rivers 70; Bayelsa 62; Delta 43; Edo 26; Ondo 22; Imo 19; Cross River 18; Abia 18; FCT 17; Adamawa 15; Anambra 12; Nasarawa 11; Oyo 11; Plateau 9; Akwa Ibom 9; Ogun 8; Benue 6; Ebonyi 6; Kano 5; Taraba 5; Kwara 5; Gombe 5; Katsina 5; Enugu 4; Borno 3; Kogi 3; Ekiti 2; Niger 2; Bauchi 1; Osun 1 and Kaduna 1.
“Since the re-emergence of the outbreak in 2017, five states ( Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe) are yet to record a confirmed case, while two states (Jigawa & Yobe) are yet to report a suspect case.
“In 2022, Seven states are yet to record a confirmed case (Enugu, Ekiti, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Yobe and Jigawa ) with Jigawa and Yobe yet to report a suspected case.
“Fourteen deaths have been recorded since September 2017 (CFR= 2.8%) in eleven states – Lagos 3; Edo 2; Imo 1; Cross River 1; FCT 1; Rivers 1; Indo 1; Delta 1; Akwa Ibom 2; Taraba 1 and Kogi.
According to the WHO Health Emergency Dashboard, as of September 13, 2022, there were 58,285 confirmed cases from 104 countries with a cumulative of 22 deaths reported from 10 countries.
But updated data from the NCDC revealed that Nigeria has recorded 318 confirmed cases of monkeypox with seven deaths since January this year.
Speaking during a ministerial press briefing organised by the Federal Ministry of Health, NCDC’s Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, who was represented by the agency’s Assistant Director and Head of Response Division, Dr. Aderinola Olaolu, said: “In Nigeria, we have 815 suspected cases, 318 confirmed cases, and seven deaths this year from monkeypox.
“Our response continues with the development of monkeypox risk communication materials, provision of support to states with case identification, SORMAS reporting also.
“Laboratory activities have continued and are being strengthened in areas of sample collection, and genomic sequencing.
“We recently held a meeting with key partner support, establishing areas of monkeypox research priorities, including understanding animal reservoirs, population exposure, and genomics of transmission chains.”
