The Government of Kwara State has confirmed its first case of monkeypox in the North-Central state raising strong fears among people of the area of a possible spike.
The Commissioner for Health in the State, Dr Raji Razaq, disclosed this in Ilorin via a statement revealing that the recorded case followed rigorous efforts of the surveillance and response team that it activated since the index case was reported in the country in March 2022.
‘The first confirmed case in Kwara state involves a 29-year-old Nigerian driver who developed symptoms of fever, generalised rash, and weakness in the last two weeks and had been under our surveillance,’ the statement partly read.
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‘There were contacts with the wife and four neighbours with similar symptoms where he lives at Gbugbu in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State. All of which have been resolved by the health team.
‘The patient has been on admission in the last one week because of suspicion of monkeypox. He has also been under strict monitoring by the surveillance and clinical team.’
‘Currently, the patient is improving and stable in the ward.
‘The government’s team has similarly begun health facility and community case search/contact tracing.
‘The team will also intensify continuous public and community sensitization on the disease and its symptoms for public education and control.
‘There is also ongoing training and retraining of health workers to strengthen our response to the development.
‘The Ministry of Health is also notifying the appropriate agencies, especially the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, of the development.
‘Members of the public are implored to step up efforts at personal and community hygiene as we work together to fight this disease.’
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported that the ravaging monkeypox virus which was recently detected in Nigeria has finally spread to fifteen states in eight weeks.
The Monkeypox virus which has been described as a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease which is known to spread from animals to humans occurs mostly in isolated towns in Central and West Africa near tropical rainforests.