Nigeria confirms 21 cases of monkeypox since the beginning of the year

The health authorities of Nigeriathe most populous country in Africa, have detected 21 cases of monkey pox -of which one ended in death-, announced the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

“As of May 29, 2022, we have confirmed a total of 21 cases (of monkey pox) and one death in nine states (of the country)”, indicated the director of the NCDC, Ifedayo Adetifa, in a statement issued late on Sunday, which was released today by local media.

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The patient who died, Adetifa added, was a 40-year-old who suffered from other illnesses.

“So far all cases have been confirmed to be caused by the West African variant of monkeypox,” explained the doctor.

According to Adetifa, “Although the risk of Nigeria of exposure to monkey pox is high (…), the current situation in the country and in the world has not proven to be a significant threat to life or communities.”

Even so, the NCDC recommended that Nigerians “adhere to public health safety measures” and “inform the nearest health center if you notice symptoms” of this disease.

These figures were published after last Thursday the Nigerian health authorities activated the National Operations Center for the monkey pox (MPX-EOC) for “strengthen and coordinate the ongoing response in the country and contribute to the global response.”

This protocol was added to a “national surveillance system” that Nigeria launched in 2017 in response to an outbreak of monkey pox with more than 500 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In fact, a WHO report noted that Nigeria there were from the beginning of this year until last April 30 at least 46 infections of this disease, thus raising the figures published by the NCDC.

The alarm raised by the more than 250 cases of monkey pox detected in countries where this disease is not endemic contrasts with the situation in Africa, a continent familiar with the virus for more than five decades, although it has received little media attention.

All the countries where the monkey pox is endemic are African: Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Ghana (where only has been identified in animals).

Source: Elcomercio

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