From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Anambra State Government, on Thursday, said that the state has confirmed one of the two suspected cases of Monkeypox disease as positive.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, disclosed this to newsmen at a press conference. He said that the state had been on red alert ever since the case was first reported in some states sometime this year.
”Few weeks ago, two suspected cases of monkeypox were reported in Anambra East, Onitsha and Oyi Local Government Areas, out of which the case from Anambra East LGA was confirmed positive.
“The case is currently at the isolation centre of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where he is receiving treatment and recovering.
“In light of the above, Governor Charles Soludo immediately declared the incident an outbreak and an emergency preparedness and response committee meeting was immediately convened on Wednesday.
“The meeting was attended by relevant stakeholders including World Health Organisation team and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). They are providing necessary assistance to the state
“Planning for immediate response to the outbreak and surveillance, laboratory, case management, risk communication and community engagement, infection prevention and control and safe burial pillars, were activated, ” he said.
The commissioner said that the state was adequately prepared to tackle the outbreak and that the response team had put relevant surveillance measures in place to ensure that it’d not spread in the state.
He said that the state government had started the training of health personnel and response officers on enhanced active case search, sample collections and Monkeypox management and that awareness campaigns had started to educate the public on the subject matter.
Obidike urged the residents of the state not to panic and ensure that they report to the nearest hospital for proper examination whenever they notice rashes on their skin.
“Once it is established at the hospital, the patient will be taken to our isolation centres for treatment. We have activated all our isolation centres in the state.
“We urge residents to remain calm and stay safe as we mitigate this outbreak of Monkeypox in the state. We shall overcome again”, he assured.
Coordinator of WHO in the state, Dr Adamu Abdulnasir, on his part, said the organisation would support the state in terms of outbreak response, surveillance and capacity building.
“Since we heard about the two suspected cases, WHO has supported in the areas of sample collection and taking the sample to the lab. When the results came out, we carried out contact tracing as well as case and risks management.
“In Nigeria so far, we have recorded 41 cases of Monkeypox with one death. The government is taking proactive measure to bring this outbreak to a stop and sensitise people on how to prevent and protect themselves,” he said.