Rivers records first case of monkeypox

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says a case of monkeypox disease has been confirmed in Rivers State.

The NCDC in a statement on Sunday said a total of 66 suspected cases have been reported from January 2022 to May 2022, with confirmed cases in eleven states including Adamawa, Lagos, Bayelsa, FCT, Kaduna, Delta, Niger, Gombe, Edo, Oyo, and Rivers.

In the statement, NCDC also disclosed that a 40-year-old man with renal co-morbidity and on immune-suppressive drugs died from the disease.

“The twenty (20) new suspected cases in May 2022 were reported from 11 states – Lagos (5), Bayelsa (2), Adamawa (2), Rivers (2), Niger (2), FCT (2), Delta (1), Oyo (1), Kaduna (1), Edo (1) and Gombe (1).

“This is a 100% increase in case reporting as compared with April 2022, when 10 new cases were reported, and is likely due to ongoing efforts to increase awareness and improve surveillance.

“The six (6) new confirmed positive cases (out of the 20 suspected cases) in May 2022 were confirmed from four (4) states – Bayelsa (2), Adamawa (2), Lagos (1), and Rivers (1)”.

The commission said it had activated the National Multisectoral Emergency Operations Centre at level 2 to continue to coordinate ongoing response activities.