Janet Ogundepo To further reduce the spread of the monkeypox virus, m-pox, the Association of Resident Doctors at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, has warned Nigerians to avoid eating improperly cooked bush meat. The association, speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, through its President, Dr Yusuf Muhammed, also advised that the public minimise contact with dead animals. He further stated that resident doctors in the state were prepared to deploy all response measures used during COVID-19 to tackle any eventual outbreak in the country.
Muhammed’s warning follows the World Health Organisation’s declaration on August 14, identifying the outbreak of m-pox in parts of Africa as a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO notes that Mpox is a viral infection caused by the monkeypox virus, which spreads between people through close contact, such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like bed sheets, clothing and needles. It causes painful rash, flu-like symptoms, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Mpox occurs mostly in Central and Western Africa and occurs in humans and other animals. Although a global outbreak occurred in 2022-2023, the WHO declared the disease a public health emergency following the death of 450 people during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the disease spread to Central and East Africa, Pakistan and Sweden. An update on Mpox published in the Situation Report from the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control and Prevention, for epidemic week 29 to 32 and published on August 11, 2024, revealed that there were two confirmed cases and 51 suspected cases in the week reviewed.
Some of its symptoms are sore throat, itchy or painful rash, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and fatigue. Since the declaration, the Federal Government has tightened border controls and intensified monitoring and screening procedures in response to the outbreak. Speaking further the ARD-UITH president explained that “m-pox is not entirely new, but at some point, new strains commonly appear, and in recent times, WHO sent warning that the strain that is currently detected is a new one.
“The fear is that the antibody that humans have may not be able to protect against it like the strain that occurred before. This poses a significant threat to people, and everybody should be on the lookout.” He stated that the disease was a viral disease related to the now-eradicated smallpox virus and advised Nigerians not to panic, but to report suspected cases to the nearest health agencies where proper investigation and contact tracing can be done.
“The public should not panic, but report cases to health agencies for contact tracing and proper investigation, so that at-risk individuals can also be quarantined and prevention measures taken,” Mohammed said. The ARD-UITH president highlighted that the vaccine for smallpox was also shown to work for m-pox, however stating that he was unsure of the extent it would be effective on the new strain. He said “ARD from the national body and the UITH are observing the trend, preventive measures and advice from the scientific community, so that we appraise it and also contribute our quota to the body of knowledge.
“For now, there are no reported cases in Nigeria. As far as the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control is concerned, the WHO has alerted all nations to be on the lookout for possible outbreaks.” Copyright PUNCH All rights reserved.
This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: [email protected] Tags Africa CDC declares mpox public health emergency FG tightens border controls over mpox outbreak Mpox outbreak Nigerians warned against bushmeat as mpox spread WHO declares mpox global health emergency.
