Nigeria records 789 cases of monkeypox

The PUNCH reported that there are now 789 confirmed cases of mpox in Nigeria.

There have been eight reported deaths as a result of the illness.

According to the World Health Organization's mpox situation report, Nigeria has the greatest number of mpox cases and fatalities in the continent of Africa.

As of February 16, 110 nations across all six WHO regions had reported a combined 85,860 confirmed cases and 93 fatalities.

The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, concurred with the committee's recommendation that the multi-country mpox outbreak continues to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern when the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee met for the fourth time on February 9 to discuss the outbreak.

The Emergency Committee recognized the progress that had been made in the world but expressed concern about the ongoing transmission in some nations as well as any potential under-detection and under-reporting in others, particularly in those where there had previously been animal-to-human transmission.

According to the mpox African region report, Benin reported three cases, Cameroon reported 18 cases and three deaths, the Central African Republic reported 22 cases, Congo reported 5, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported 370, Ghana reported 121 cases and four deaths, Liberia reported 7, Mozambique reported 1 case and 1 death, and South Africa reported 5.

According to the WHO, mpox is still spreading through animal hosts with sporadic human exposure, which not only affects the local population negatively but also makes it possible for the virus to be exported to other regions or nations. It is possible for people harboring the virus to travel internationally or for susceptible animals to be traded internationally from countries where the disease is enzootic.

The UN agency recommended that nations incorporate mpox prevention, preparedness, and response into programs and services for sexual health, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections. It also recommended that nations keep advancing research using a One Health approach in coordination with partner organizations.

In order to stop future local and international outbreaks, experts say intervention efforts to reduce the danger of zoonotic spillover of mpox are required.