From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has activated Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in response to the rising spread of Monkeypox across the world including Nigeria.
NCDC in a statement by its Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, explained that the action was to strengthen in-country preparedness and to contribute to the global response to the disease.
He also confirmed that as at 29th May, 2022, a total of 21 confirmed cases with one death have been reported from 9 states and the FCT – Adamawa (5), Lagos (4), Bayelsa (2), Delta (2), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Imo (1), Rivers (1).
He said the death was reported in a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications.
Dr. Adetifa noted that genomic surveillance was ongoing at NCDC’s National Reference Laboratory in Abuja, and so far, all of the cases have been confirmed to be caused by West Africa clade Monkeypox virus.
He said that, among the 21 cases reported in 2022 so far, there has been no evidence of any new or unusual transmission of the virus, nor changes in its clinical manifestation documented (including symptoms, profile and virulence).
“Prior to the activation of the Monkeypox EOC, a multi-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) coordinated at the NCDC led Nigeria’s efforts to improve the detection, prevention and control of Monkeypox.
“Nigeria’s national surveillance system, the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) was first deployed in response to the 2017 Monkeypox outbreak to improve the timeliness and completeness of case reporting, as well as facilitate the overall response,” he added.