Monkeypox: Nigeria Confirms Outbreak With 558 Cases, Eight Deaths
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) says that 558 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 32 states of the federation, including eight deaths, following a report by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Sunday. The UKHSA reported that the patient had recently traveled from Nigeria and is receiving care at the Infectious Disease Unit of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.
Director, NHSE High Consequence Infection Diseases (Airborne) Network and Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Guy’s and St. Thomas’, Dr. Nicholas Price, stated: “The patient is being treated in our specialist isolation unit by expert clinical staff with strict infection prevention procedures.”
As reported yesterday by the NCDC, Nigeria continues to report sporadic cases of the ailment since September 2017, with a Technical Working Group (TWG) monitoring infections and strengthening preparedness/response capacity. 46 suspected infections were reported between January 1 and April 30 this year, including 15 confirmed cases coming from seven states including Adamawa (three), Lagos (three), Cross River (two), Abuja (two), Kano (two), Delta (two) and Imo (one), but no death had been recorded.
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The NCDC said 10 new suspected cases in April were reported from seven states – Bayelsa (three), Lagos (two), Kano (one), FCT (one), Delta (one), Edo (one) and Ogun (one). The five new positive cases in the month were confirmed from four states – Lagos (two), FCT (one), Kano (one) and Delta (one).
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From September 2017 to April 30, 2022, a total of 558 suspected cases were reported from 32 states. It noted that of the reported cases, 241 (43.2 per cent) have been confirmed in 22 states – Rivers (52), Bayelsa (43), Lagos (33), Delta (31), Cross River (16), Edo (10), Imo (nine), Akwa Ibom (seven), Oyo (six), FCT (eight), Enugu (four), Abia (three), Plateau (three), Adamawa (three), Nasarawa (two), Benue (two), Anambra (two), Ekiti (two), Kano (two), Ebonyi (one), Niger (one) and Ogun (one).
The NCDC said that the eight deaths have been recorded with a Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) of 3.3 per cent in six states – namely Edo (two), Lagos (two), Imo (one), Cross River (one), FCT (one) and Rivers (one) – from September 2017 to April 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, the UKHSA confirmed case is the seventh in Britain. The disease was first detected in the UK in 2018 after another traveler brought the virus back from Nigeria and spread to two other people, including one NHS nurse, who caught it from bed linen. It is usually a mild self-limiting illness and most people recover within a few weeks, but severe illness could occur in some individuals.
According to Dr. Colin Brown, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections, UKHSA, “It is important to emphasise that monkeypox does not spread easily between people, and the overall risk to the general public is very low.”
