The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has confirmed a total of 21 cases of monkeypox with one death as at 29th of May, 2022.
The death was reported in a 40 year old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications.
According to a publication signed by the Director General of NCDC, Ifedayo Adetifa, the reported cases are from 9 states of FCT – Adamawa , Lagos, Bayelsa, Delta Cross River ,FCT , Kano , Imo and Rivers.
The NCDC noted thay, the Centre On 26th May 2022, activated a national multisectoral Emergency Operations Centre for Monkeypox (xxx-EOC) at level 2 to strengthen and coordinate ongoing response 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.
The publication, 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.
Among the 21 cases reported in 2022 indications from the centre suggest there has been no evidence of any new or unusual transmission of the virus, nor changes in its clinical manifestation documented (including symptoms, profile and virulence).
“Prior to the activation of the MPX-EOC, a multi-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) coordinated at the NCDC led Nigeria’s efforts to improve the detection, prevention and control of Monkeypox”.
The Centre also deployed
national surveillance system, the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) to improve the timeliness and completeness of case reporting, as well as facilitate the overall response (access relevant publication here – http://hdl.handle.net/10033/622144).
In addition, this pilot project informed the nationwide scale-up of SORMAS to enable real-time reporting of surveillance data for prompt public health response to infectious disease outbreaks including COVID-19,he said.
Dr Adetifa also noted that following the detection of the index case on September 22, 2017 and the effective containment of the 2017 outbreak in Nigeria, the NCDC through the Monkeypox TWG worked on various interventions to gain a better understanding of the epidemiology of the virus to inform preparedness and response in-country (access NCDC-affiliated Monkeypox publications via https://ncdc.gov.ng/research).
The TWG coordinated the development of national Monkeypox guidelines, capacity building of healthcare workers and surveillance officers on case detection, sample collection, laboratory testing for confirmation and sequencing of the virus at NCDC’s National Reference Laboratory and intensified public awareness through risk communication. The national Monkeypox response guidelines can be accessed via – https://ncdc.gov.ng/themes/common/docs/protocols/96_1577798337.pdf.
Furthermore, a national One-health risk surveillance and information sharing (NOHRSIS) group has been inaugurated to facilitate timely information exchange on all prioritised zoonotic diseases. NOHRSIS will also strengthen the collaborative efforts of the One health/IHR Unit at the Point of Entry to intensify surveillance for the disease in animals as well as ensure minimal contact with suspected animals.
He also noted that, the One Health Animal Surveillance team including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Federal Ministry of Environment, the National Veterinary Research Institute and partners commenced operational research on Monkeypox virus prevalence in small mammals at the human-animal interface since October 2018.
This research has been completed in 7 states with a planned rollout in all other states to commence soon.
Although Nigeria’s risk of exposure to the Monkeypox virus is high based on the recent risk assessment conducted at NCDC, the current situation in-country and globally has shown no
