Nigerian government has announced it is investigating a total of 94 suspected cases of Monkeypox in 11 states
In a statement made available to HealthNews.NG, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced laboratory confirmation of six additional cases of Monkeypox disease – 2 in Bayelsa, 2 in Akwa Ibom, one in Enugu and one in Abuja.
While asking Nigerians to be calm, the center stated that as at October 25 2017, a total of 94 suspected cases have been reported in 11 states including Cross Rivers, Imo, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger and Rivers states.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, noted that the newly confirmed cases are patients already being managed by public health authorities and have been receiving appropriate clinical care since onset of the illness.
“The Federal Ministry of Health, through the NCDC, is in close contact with all State Epidemiology Teams, as well as the health facilities providing clinical care to both suspected and confirmed cases. State Commissioners of Health have been advised to place all health care facilities and Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers on alert, to ensure early case detection, reporting and effective treatment,” NCDC stated.
The center also announced that a National-level Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) led by the NCDC with support from development partners, is coordinating outbreak investigation and response across affected States. The EOC includes the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as experts from partner agencies. The EOC provides daily support to State Ministries of Health in active case finding, epidemiological investigation, contact tracing, case management, psychosocial support and risk communication.