NCDC confirms 157 monkeypox cases in 26 states with 4 deaths

The viral disease, Monkeypox has spread to 26 states in Nigeria as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed more cases in its latest report.

The NDCD has now confirmed 157 cases of the disease which is transmitted from animals to humans in the country.

Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa where the disease is endemic.

According to the NCDC report, four deaths attributed to the disease have been recorded in four states from January 1 to July 31, 2022.

The report showed that the four deaths were recorded in Delta, Lagos, Ondo, and Akwa Ibom states.

Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" are seen in this illustration taken May 23, 2022. Image by REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Pulse Live Kenya

The report also showed that there were at least 413 suspected cases of the disease in the country.

The report reads in part; “There were fifty-six (56) new suspected cases reported in Epi week 30, 2022 (25th to 31st July 2022) from nineteen (19) states — Ondo (13), Plateau (8), Lagos (6), Adamawa (4), Abia (3), Borno (3), Delta (2), Kano (3), Anambra (2), Bayelsa (2) , Kwara (2), Akwa Ibom (1), Gombe (1), Imo (1), Nasarawa (1), Osun (1), Oyo (1), Rivers (1) and Taraba (1)

Of fifty-six (56)suspected cases, there were twenty-four(24) new confirmed positive cases in Epi week 30, 2022 from twelve (12) states — Ondo (5), Kano (3), Lagos (3), Abia (2), Adamawa (2), Bayelsa (2), Kwara (2), Delta (1), Anambra (1), Gombe (1), Rivers (1) and Nasarawa (1).

“From 1st January to 31st July 2022, there have now been 413 suspected cases and 157 confirmed cases (105 male, 52 female) from twenty-six (26) states — Lagos (20), Ondo (14), Adamawa (13), Delta (12), Bayelsa (12), Rivers (11), Edo (8), Nasarawa (8), Plateau (6), Anambra (6), FCT (5), Taraba (5), Kwara (5), Kano (5), Imo (4), Cross River (3), Borno (3), Oyo (3), Abia (3), Gombe (3), Katsina (2), Kogi (2), Niger (1), Ogun (1), Bauchi (1) and Akwa Ibom (1).

“Four deaths were recorded from 4 states — Delta (1), Lagos (1), Ondo (1) and Akwa Ibom (1).

“Overall, since the re-emergence of monkeypox in September 2017 and to 31st July 2022, a total of 925 suspected cases have been reported from 35 states in the country.”

Nigeria recorded its first monkeypox death in 2022 in May, when there were only 21 confirmed cases in the country.