Mpox Outbreak Spreads To 19 States And FCT In Nigeria, With 40 Confirmed Cases

 

The current Mpox outbreak in Nigeria has spread to 30 local government areas in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with 40 confirmed cases so far.

A report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) also showed that there are so far a total of 802 suspected cases in 33 states of the Federation.

This situation report was released a few days before the United States government donated 10,000 doses of Mpox vaccines to Nigeria.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) had declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International and Continental Concern (PHEIC/PHECC) following an outbreak of the disease across the continent.

Data from the latest Mpox situation room at the NCDC showed that the 40 cases in Nigeria were confirmed as at 19th of this month, which is the beginning of the 34th week of the year 2024.

No death from the disease has so far been recorded in the country this year.

The states with the confirmed cases are Bayelsa (5) Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Cross River (4 cases each), Benue (3), Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), Delta, Anambra, Rivers, Plateau (2 each); Nasarawa, Lagos, Zamfara, Kebbi, Oyo, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi (1 each) and Osun (2).

So far, 2,863 confirmed cases and 517 deaths across 13 African countries have been reported in this year alone.

The outbreak has been linked to a new strain of the Mpox virus which emerged in Eastern Congo and has since been detected in other countries including Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.