AT least 39 confirmed Mpox cases have been recorded across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory since the beginning of 2024, with no reported deaths.
The Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) Jide Idris, made this known, on Thursday, August 15, at a press conference, in Abuja.
Idris said the centre had been closely monitoring several endemic diseases including Mpox which had been declared a Public Health Emergency of International/Continental Concern (PHEIC/PHECC) by both the WHO and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC).
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, with two distinct clades: Clade I and Clade II. The disease can be transmitted through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact and talking or breathing close to another person.
Unlike the previous mpox public health emergency, declared in 2022, caused by the relatively mild Clade 2, the recent outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I.
Meanwhile, the Africa CDC has warned that no fewer than 13 African countries, including previously unaffected nations like Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, had reported mpox outbreaks.
Speaking on the cases reported in Nigeria, the NCDC boss noted that the disease was a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease endemic in several African countries including the tropical rainforests of Central and West Africa.
According to him, the exact reservoir of the virus is still unknown although rodents, squirrels and monkeys are suspected to play a part in its transmission.
While noting Nigeria is not exempted in the number of cases reported in the African continent, he added that about 2,863 confirmed cases and 517 deaths across 13 African countries were reported in 2024 alone.
“So far, about 2,863 confirmed cases and 517 deaths across 13 African countries have been reported in 2024 alone. This alarming increase is linked to a new strain of the Mpox virus which emerged in eastern Congo and has since been detected in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
“In Nigeria, cumulatively, a total of 39 confirmed cases and zero deaths have been recorded across 33 States + FCT, from the beginning of the year 2024. Bayelsa (5), Cross River (5), Ogun (4), Lagos (4), Ondo (3), and Ebonyi (3) leading the pack,” he said.
Mpox declared global health emergency
On Wednesday, August 14, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years.
The declaration followed an alarm raised by the Africa CDC on Tuesday, August 8, regarding the alarming spread of the viral infection.
The WHO’s declaration came on the heel of the advice of an Emergency Committee of independent experts who met on Wednesday to review data presented by experts from WHO and affected countries.
The Committee, according to the WHO, informed the Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, that it considered the upsurge of mpox to be a public health emergency of international concerns (PHEIC), with potential to spread further across countries in Africa and possibly beyond the continent.
The PHEIC status is WHO’s highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding and international public health measures and cooperation to contain a disease.
FG tightens border control amidst global Mpox outbreak
In response to the Mpox outbreak, the Federal Government said it had intensified monitoring and screening procedures at all entry points in the country.
This was disclosed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, a professor, in a statement on Thursday.
“This Mpox Clade 1 strain has caused fatalities in up to 10 per cent of individuals who have fallen ill in previous outbreaks,” he said.
He added that the aim was to tackle and mitigate its impact by deploying measures similar to those used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the government has implemented a new mandate requiring all travellers to complete an online health declaration form before departing for the country.
“This measure is being introduced alongside the activation of infectious disease centres in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” he stressed.
The minister further urged the public to practice good hygiene, frequent hand washing with soap and water, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser, especially after contact with an infected person or animal.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M