The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its May 2022 report revealed an additional 10 new cases of Monkeypox in the country bringing the total number of suspected cases from April 2022 to 20.
Driving the news
The report states that the 20 cases were found across Lagos, Bayelsa, Adamawa, Rivers, Niger, FCT, Delta, Oyo, Kaduna, Edo and Gombe.
- From January 1st – May 26th 2022, Nigeria has reported 66 suspected cases with Lagos State amongst the states with the highest number of cases.
- The report highlights that “of the suspected cases, 21 were confirmed from nine (9) states, Adamawa (5), Lagos (4), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Delta (2), Bayelsa (2), River (1) and Imo (1) – with 1 death recorded. This was in a 40yrs man with renal co-morbidity and on immune-suppressive drugs.”
- From September 2017 to May 29th, 2022, a total of 578 suspected cases have been reported in 32 states of the country.
- A report based on WHO findings shows the outbreak of the disease in other countries.
What NCDC is saying
The health operators said a joint risk assessment by health agencies, government ministries and experts encouraged the NCDC to activate a “national multisectoral Emergency Operations Centre for Monkeypox (MPX-EOC) at level 2 to strengthen and coordinate ongoing response activities in-country while contributing to the global response.”
Global view
A global report dated May 28th 2022 stated that over 200 Monkeypox cases have surfaced outside the countries where the disease usually circulates. According to the report, human Monkeypox, a less severe case of smallpox, is endemic in 11 Central and Western African countries.
- This has not stopped the disease from spreading to countries in North America, Australia and European countries including UK, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, etc.
- Surprisingly, international health experts say that this string of the virus is concerning because they have suspected cases with no known travel links to Africa.