Rivers state's Health Commissioner reports 3 suspected cases of disease

Three residents of three different communities in Rivers state are suspected to have fallen victim to the new deadly monkeypox disease.

This was disclosed by the state's Commissioner for Health, Professor Princewill Chike, who revealed that all three cases came from Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

He also assured that his ministry has set up isolation centres to prevent the spread of the disease.

He said, "In Rivers State we have three suspected cases already. One is from the Rumuorlumeni area. We saw it and think it is not a serious matter so we have ruled it out.

"Another one is a thirteen year old boy at Eneka. We discovered they took the boy to a native doctor. The parents think they can handle it the native way.

"We have activated our isolation centres and we have put all our health centres on red alert.

"The University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital and all our primary health centres have been reactivated.

"We can assure you that there is no cause for alarm because we are on top of the situation."

Professor Chike also asked that residents of the state call the attention of relevant authorities to any suspected case of the viral infection.

The three contact numbers he released to the public to call in cases of emergency are 08056109538, 09062277699, and 08033124314.

Monkeypox is a viral illness caused by a group of viruses that include chicken pox and small pox, with symptoms like severe headache, fever, back pains among others.

The most worrisome symptom is the presence of rashes, bigger than those caused by chicken pox, usually spreading across the whole body of an infected person.

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Residents of Bayelsa state are currently living in fear of the new deadly epidemic with about 11 people, including a medical doctor, said to be infected with the virus.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the epidemiological team are tracking about 49 other people who were said to have come in contact with the victims who have been quarantined in an isolation center at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri in Yenagoa.

The state's Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, said samples of the virus have been sent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) laboratory in Dakar, Senegal for confirmation.