FG, WHO Lab Confirm 3 Monkeypox Cases In Bayelsa

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with the help of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, have confirmed three cases out of suspected Monkeypox samples from Bayelsa State.

The ministry and the NCDC in a joint statement noted that there is no Monkeypox in Lagos State as four cases tested were confirmed to be negative. They also said that suspected cases had risen to 43 and the virus spread to eight states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Lagos, Enugu, Nasarawa, Rivers and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and National Co-ordinator of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the NCDC and FMoH expect that the Monkeypox virus does not cause many of these cases being reported from other states in Nigeria.

He said further laboratory tests using whole genome sequencing were being carried out by the Africa Centre for Genomics and Infectious Diseases in Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State.

However, the Bayelsa state Commissioner for Health, Ebitimitula Etebu, has said that one of the patients of the viral disease has committed suicide at the isolation centre of the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH) where he was undergoing treatment.

He said the patient was recovering from the disease and had improved significantly.