Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed that it has activated a national multisectoral Emergency Operations Centre for Monkeypox (MPX-EOC) at level 2 to strengthen and coordinate ongoing response activities in-country as fears continue to rise following the outbreak.
The disease control body observed that genomic surveillance is presently ongoing at NCDC’s National Reference Laboratory in Abuja and so far all of the cases have been confirmed to be caused by West Africa clade Monkeypox virus.
A statement issued by the centre last night which was sighted by Africa Today News, New York said that the measure was based on the report of a preliminary risk assessment done by a group of Subject Matter Experts from the NCDC, relevant government Ministries Departments and Agencies and partner agencies.
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According to the statement obtained from the website of the NCDC, it said that : ‘0n 26th May 2022, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) activated a national multisectoral Emergency Operations Centre for Monkeypox (MPX-EOC) at level 2 to strengthen and coordinate ongoing response activities in-country while contributing to the global response. This was based on the report of a preliminary risk assessment done by a group of Subject Matter Experts from the NCDC, relevant government Ministries Departments and Agencies and partner agencies’.
It said that, as at 29th May 2022, a total of 21 confirmed cases with one death have been reported from 9 states and the FCT – Adamawa (5), Lagos (4), Bayelsa (2), Delta (2), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Imo (1), Rivers (1). The death was reported in a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications.
NCDC has also gone on to point out that genomic surveillance is ongoing at NCDC’s National Reference Laboratory in Abuja and so far all of the cases have been confirmed to be caused by West Africa clade Monkeypox virus.