Lagos, Edo top list as NCDC records 21 monkeypox cases in one week

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 21 new cases of monkeypox have been recorded across the country within the last seven days.

The NCDC made this announcement in a statement published on its official website, on Sunday.

The new figure raises the total number of confirmed cases of monkeypox in the country to 241. The agency also provided guidelines on how to avoid the virus.

“Of the 241 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the country, Lagos state has the highest burden of the disease, with 42 confirmed cases since the beginning of the year,” the agency said.

“This translates to 17.4 per cent of the total burden of the disease in the country.

“Overall, since the re-emergence of monkeypox in September 2017 to August this year, a total of 1,116 suspected cases have been reported from 35 states.

“Of the 1,116 suspected cases, there have been 467 (41.8 per cent) confirmed (309 male, 158 female) from 32 states.”

Out of the total number of suspected cases from September, NCDC added that a total of 14 deaths have been recorded with a case fatality rate of 3% in 10 states.

“The states are Lagos – three, Edo – two, Imo – one, Cross River – one, FCT – one, Rivers – one, Ondo State – one, Delta – one, Akwa Ibom – one, Taraba – one and Kogi – one,” the NCDC stated.

On September 1, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said more than 50,000 monkeypox cases had been recorded globally after declaring it a global health emergency in July.

A global emergency is WHO’s highest level of alert with the last public health emergency being the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although clinically less severe.

It can be transmitted via animal-to-human contact from direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or lesions of infected animals.

The human-to-human transmission could be spread by close contact and exposure to an infected person’s respiratory droplets, skin lesions or bodily fluids.

According to the NCDC, monkeypox symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, fever and a rash that may initially be mistaken for chickenpox or a sexually transmitted disease, if in the genital or anal region.