Monkeypox: NCDC blames Nigerians for outbreak

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says citizens are not following the preventive measures against the current outbreak of Monkeypox in the country.

Dr John Oladejo, the NCDC Director of Health Emergency Preparedness and Response, made this assertion on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Ibadan while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing second Ibadan Public Health conference.

Oladejo said behavioural attitudes and negligence in following precautionary measures were contributing to the outbreak of viral diseases in the country.

“The main problem in the country, as related to these viral diseases, is the people themselves.

“When you give them instructions or protocols, they don’t follow it.

“So, at the community level, there are always behavioural problems,” he said.

Oladejo, however, said the federal government has scaled up the surveillance system, with immediate actions focussed on training healthcare workers on monkeypox surveillance and response at the state and local government levels.

“We have actually done a lot of work in terms of preparedness and activated the monkeypox emergency operations centre to strengthen our preparedness and response.

“We have trained our health workers in every state of the federation.

“It was this training we did that made the states really wake up and go out for active surveillance and get new cases that were treated immediately.

“We are using a digital surveillance system and molecular laboratory to know the sequencing of Monkeypox in Nigeria.

“We have done a lot to ensure that we are able to control as well as prevent the spread of Monkeypox in the country.

“The prevalence is very low, contrary to what many people think, the total number of cases from 2017 to date is 569,” he said.

Monkeypox spreads in different ways. The virus can spread from person-to-person through: direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids. respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex.