The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised the alarm over the global spread of monkeypox disease, especially in non-endemic countries and regions. So far, there have been 92 confirmed cases of the ailment and 50 suspected incidences in not less than 12 countries. The disease, which is rarely seen outside Africa, has occurred in United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Netherlands. Other affected countries include, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and Italy. Monkeypox endemic countries are mainly in Africa.
They include Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. Monkeypox originated in rodents in Central and West Africa and has repeatedly occurred in humans.
The first monkeypox outbreak outside of Africa was in 2003 in the United States of America and was linked to infected pet prairie dogs. This particular outbreak led to over 70 cases of monkeypox in the US. The disease has been reported from travellers from Nigeria to Israel in 2018, as well as to United Kingdom in the same year and others.
According to experts, monkeypox is a viral disease transmitted from animals to humans. The monkeypox virus is a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. Its symptoms are reportedly similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients. However, it is clinically less severe than smallpox. Although the initial discovery of the virus in monkeys was in a Danish laboratory in 1958, the first human case was said to have been identified in a child in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and west regions of Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions. The virus is said to spread through droplets from the nose or mouth. Monkeypox is a highly contagious disease. It can also be transmitted through body fluids as well as objects that have come in contact with them.
However, experts opine that the disease is most likely spread through close contact with a person or animal having it. Some of the symptoms of monkeypox are fever, general body aches, malaise and muscle aches. These are followed with the development of the rash. The symptoms last from two to four weeks while the case fatality rate has been put at around 3-6 per cent.
But the recent global outbreak, according to the WHO, is through sex between man and man. According to WHO fact sheet, vaccines used during the smallpox eradication programme can also provide protection against monkeypox. There are indications that newer vaccines have been developed of which one has been approved for the prevention of smallpox.
The natural hosts of monkeypox virus include rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, non-human primates and other species. While most people with monkeypox will recover on their own, about five per cent of those with the condition die. Available statistics show that Nigeria has experienced a large outbreak of the disease since 2017, with over 500 suspected cases and a case fatality ratio of about three per cent.
The Nigerian government must be proactive in checking the outbreak of monkeypox in the country. There is the need to always be on the alert about possible outbreak of the disease and the best options to contain it. Since the disease affects countries across the world, it should be regarded as a disease of global public health importance.
Therefore, we call on the federal and state health authorities to raise more awareness about the disease, the preventive measures and available treatment options. All travellers from the countries where the disease has spread to must be checked before they are allowed to enter our territory.
Any outbreak of the disease should be promptly reported to the nation’s health authorities for urgent medical attention. WHO says that raising awareness of risk factors and educating people about the measures they can take to reduce exposure to the virus is the main preventive strategy for monkeypox. Let the government and other relevant health agencies intensify efforts towards raising awareness about the disease.