Nigeria Confirms 21 Monkeypox Cases

Nigeria has recorded 21 confirmed monkeypox cases across nine states and one death since January 2022, said the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) late on Sunday.

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This African country has recorded 66 suspected monkeypox cases across more than 20 states this year. Nigeria's risk of exposure to the monkeypox virus is high based on the recent risk assessment conducted. The one death of the confirmed cases was reported in a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications.

A rapid increase of suspected cases was recorded in May, when there were 20 new suspected cases from 11 states, a 100 percent increase in case reporting as compared with April, when 10 new cases were reported.

It is "likely due to ongoing efforts to increase awareness and improve surveillance", the NCDC said, adding the NCDC has activated a national multisectoral emergency operations center for monkeypox to strengthen and coordinate ongoing response activities in-country while contributing to the global response.

The NCDC urged Nigerians 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.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that endemic monkeypox is documented in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria, adding that four African countries have reported more than 1,400 endemic monkeypox cases and 62 deaths during the course of 2022, with a case fatality rate of 4.4 percent.

Monkeypox is common in wild animals like primates and rodents, but humans can also get infected. Symptoms include skin rashes, fever, headache, muscle ache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. The rash eventually forms a scab, which later falls off, indicating that the person is no longer infectious.