NCDC confirms 36 new monkeypox cases in 15 states

NIGERIA has confirmed 36 cases of monkeypox since the start of the year with one death reported, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said. 

NCDC, in its June 12 report on the current situation of Monkeypox in Nigeria via its official website, said from January 1 to 12 June 2022, there had been 141 suspected cases in total and 36 confirmed cases from fifteen (15) states. 

The states are Lagos (7), Adamawa (5), Delta (3), River (3), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Bayelsa (2), Edo (2), Imo (2), Plateau (2), Nasarawa (1), Niger (1), Oyo (1) and Ondo (1) – with one death recorded. 

This was in a 40-year-old man with co-morbidity that was receiving immunosuppressive drugs NCDC said “Since September 2017, Nigeria has continued to report sporadic cases of monkeypox (MPX). 

On May 26th 2022, a monkeypox National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was activated in response to the risk assessment conducted, which put Nigeria at high risk for a Monkeypox outbreak. 

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The essence of the activation was to improve the coordination of related preparedness/response activities across the country. 

“There were 31 new suspected cases reported in Epi week 23, 2022 (6th to 12th June 2022) from thirteen (13) states – Lagos (5), Katsina (4), Ondo (4), Bayelsa (4), Nasarawa (3), Ogun (3), Oyo (2), Akwa Ibom (1) Delta (1), Edo (1), Kaduna (1), Kano (1), and Imo (1). There were four (4) new positive cases in Epi week 23, 2022 from four (4) states – Lagos (1), Delta (1), Oyo (1) and Nasarawa (1).” 

The World Health Organisation (WHO), on Wednesday, said it is looking into reports that the monkeypox virus is present in the semen of patients, exploring the possibility that the disease could be sexually transmitted. 

Catherine Smallwood, monkeypox incident manager at WHO/Europe, said it was not known whether recent reports meant the monkeypox virus could be sexually transmitted. 

“This may have been something that we were unaware of in this disease before,” she told a press briefing. 

“We really need to focus on the most frequent mode of transmission and we clearly see that to be associated with skin-to-skin contact.” 

More than 1,300 cases of the viral disease have been reported by about 30 countries since early May. 

Most cases have been reported in men who have sex with men and the agency reiterated that the virus is mainly transmitted via close interpersonal contact.