Monkeypox: 20-year-old corps member quarantined in Benue

A 20-year-old corps member serving in Benue State (names withheld) who is said to be a lover to the monkeypox patient discovered has been quarantined.

The corps member was said to be a lover of the suspected victim of monkeypox reported early November, this year.

Benue State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Cecilia Ojabo disclosed this to the Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday while asked on the update of the suspected victim of monkeypox discovered in the state recently.

A female suspect of monkeypox was early November discovered in Gboko area of the state and was later transferred to the Teaching hospital, Makurdi.

Dr Ojabo explained that the quarantined youth corp member who shown rashes all his body was later learned to be a lover of a suspected victim who was said to have likely contacted the suspected monkeypox from another driver lover.

The commissioner said that the result of the blood samples of the Gboko victim of monkeypox was received a few days ago from Sierra Leone and was positive with other viral infections.

Mrs Ojabo who narrated the whole episode said that the victim’s lover who was a driver from Lagos had visited and slept with the lady before she shown the symptoms.

She further said that efforts to get the said lover driver apprehended were rebuffed as the lover driver who had gone back to Lagos denied ever visiting Benue State.

“We have received the report of the blood samples of the suspected victim of monkeypox reported a few weeks ago from Sierra Leone and it is positive with other viral infections.”

“The lady had since been quarantined; we also later discovered that a young man who is a lover of monkeypox victim who is a 20-year-old corp member also shown rashes on his body and two of them have been quarantined.”

“While we were embarking on contact tracing we discovered that the victim had slept with her other lover who is a driver and who came from Lagos, we contacted the man on a phone so that he would be connected to Lagos ministry of health but he denied ever visiting Benue and other subsequent calls made to his line did not connect again.”

The commissioner said that the suspected case in Vandeikya area of the state that was reported was discovered to be measles.

She said there was a third case of a young boy schooling in Taraba State who shown symptoms and his parents took him to a doctor but in the process of transferring him to Makurdi the young boy disappeared and has not be seen since then.