Minister confirms more cases of disease in Nigeria

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire has confirmed six additional cases among the suspected cases of

Dr Ehanire announced the laboratory confirmation of the six additional on Friday, October 27, 2017 in Abuja.

The state health minister also said that investigations are ongoing to see if any of the new cases have a link with the Bayelsa cluster, where the outbreak started.

Ehanire, however, called for calm among members of the public noting that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is working with all affected States to ensure case finding and adequate management.

He also noted that the newly confirmed cases are patients already being managed by public health authorities and have been receiving appropriate clinical care since the onset of the illness.

He added that as frightening as the manifestation of the ailment may seem, no fatality has been recorded to date.

Ehanire said, “A National-level Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) led by the NCDC with support from our 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.

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“The NCDC has also deployed Rapid Response Teams to the four States with confirmed cases. Measures have been put in place to ensure proper investigation of all reported cases, effective sample collection and testing, as well as case management of all suspected and confirmed cases. Risk communication activities have been heightened to advise the public as well as healthcare workers on preventive measures. A nationwide communications campaign has begun, to inform Nigerians of key preventive measures to take to curtail the further spread of monkeypox.”

These include two cases each in Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom States, one in Enugu State and one in the Federal Capital Territory, making it a total of nine confirmed cases of Monkeypox in Nigeria.

As at October 25, 2017, a total of 94 suspected cases have been reported from 11 States (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Rivers) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).