Monkeypox: Cases rise across 12 states in 7 days

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has reported 24 additional monkeypox cases in seven days from across 12 states in the country.

The NCDC reported the cases via its official website.

It stated that a total of 157 positive infections of monkeypox were confirmed between January 1 and July 31.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that monkeypox is an ongoing outbreak, a viral disease that was confirmed in May 2022.

The initial cluster of cases was found in the United Kingdom, where the first case was detected on May 6, in an individual with travel links to Nigeria.

NAN recalls that researchers are yet to discover why monkeypox seems to be propagating so readily and unconventionally in the current global outbreak.

The monkeypox virus spreads through direct contact with respiratory secretions such as mucus or saliva or skin in lesions.

Skin lesions appear soon after infection as a rash , small pimples or round papules on the face, hands or genitalia.

These lesions may also appear inside the mouth, eyes and other parts of the body that produce mucus.

They can last for several weeks and be a source of viruses before they are fully healed.

People usually develop symptoms five to 21 days after exposure to the virus and symptoms last for two to four weeks.

The Public Health Agency said that out of the 24 additional cases, Ondo State has five while Lagos and  Kano have three each.

Abia, Adamawa,   Bayelsa and Kwara have two each and Delta,   Anambra,  Gombe, Rivers,and Nasarawa, one each.

It said that four deaths had been recorded in four states, which are; Lagos,  Delta, Ondo and Akwa Ibom .

According to NCDC, from January 1 to  July 31, there have been 413 suspected cases and 157 confirmed cases, with 105 males and 52 females.

The agency said that these cases were from 26 states.

“From September 2017 to July 31, 2022, a total of 12 deaths had been recorded in nine states:

“Lagos ( three), Edo (two), Imo (one ), Cross River (one ), the FCT (one ), Rivers (one ), Ondo ( one ) Delta (one ) and Akwa Ibom (one),” it stated.

Meanwhile, unlike COVID-19, the monkeypox virus requires intimate, often skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual’s rashes, scabs, bodily fluids, or contaminated linens to spread.

With at least some known transmission routes, available diagnostic tests, and two vaccines on offer, monkeypox should have been easy to manage across the globe.

Cases among men who have sex with other men—are still rising at an alarming rate that the World Health Organisation (WHO), has now declared a public health emergency,

Since May, more than 80 countries where monkeypox was not endemic had reported nearly 28, 000 cases. including about 7, 500 in the U.S.

All states, except Montana and Wyoming had confirmed cases, but more than half were recorded in New York, California, Illinois, Florida, and Texas.

Among the cases with available data, 94 per cent were in men who reported recent sexual or close intimate contact with other men.

54 per cent of cases were among Black and Hispanic people, a group that represents about 34 per cent of the general US population.

The share of cases among black people has grown in recent weeks, according to the US Centre For CDC analysis.

Meanwhile, some Public Health experts have recommended practising safer sex and having fewer sexual partners, particularly anonymous partners, even when they do not have symptoms.

They warned against stigmatising anyone from the LGBTQ+ community, adding, ”whenever any kind of infection is linked with sexual transmission, it comes with a stigma.”

They said that monkeypox has not been considered a sexually transmitted infection, although it is transmitted through close sexual contact.