The Ebonyi Government has begun public health sensitisation for the prevention of the spread of the deadly viral mpox disease, which is fast spreading across the country, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezirike, has said.
Dr Umezirike, who spoke on the matter earlier today (Wednesday, August 21) in Abakaliki in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the state through the ministry of health and other relevant agencies has embarked on public sensitisation to raise people’s awareness on the disease.
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He said the state government would not relent in ensuring that residents of the state are protected against the disease through various health safety measures.
Assuring that health workers in the State have since embarked on public awareness on the existence of mpox and the need for the public to maintain standard health safety measures to prevent its spread in the state, Umezirike revealed that although the state has recorded its first case of the mpox disease, efforts are in place to contain it and stop it from spreading.
Disclosing that the virus was recorded at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) on August 10,
the Ebonyi Health Commissioner said the index case was a 32-year-old male farmer, from Ugwulangwu in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the State, who resides in Abakaliki.
According to Umezirike, the index case travelled to Rivers State and returned to Ebonyi on July 7 and presented with a history of fever, maculopapular rash, sore throat, headache and general weakness.
“A presumptive diagnosis of monkey-pox was made to rule out smallpox. Sample was collected and sent to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Reference Laboratory and the result came out positive for monkeypox virus,” the Health Commissioner said, explaining that thereafter, the patient was admitted at Ebonyi Isolation Centre where he is currently being managed and responding to treatment Monkeypox.”
Additionally, seven contacts have been identified and line-listed are being followed up.
“Active case search has been heightened across all the LGAs in the state to strengthen case finding,” he said.
Umezirike said that since the onset of the outbreak, Ebonyi has recorded a total of 32 suspected cases with only one confirmed case.
“Case fatality rate is still zero as there is no record of any death both in suspected and confirmed cases in the state,” he said.
“Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been activated to coordinate the outbreak of investigation and response across the 13 LGAs in the State,” he said.
Umezirike said the state is currently supporting response activities to contain the monkey-pox outbreak via active case search, epidemiological investigation, contact line listing and monitoring of all exposed contacts.
The commissioner said measures have been put in place to ensure effective sample collection and testing to enable laboratory confirmation.
“Risk communication activities have been heightened to advise the public on preventive measures.”
