Ekeomah Atuonwu
Ifedayo Adetifa, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, says the NCDC has noticed an increase in monkeypox cases in the country.
During a virtual media forum on monkeypox on Tuesday, he cautioned that if the present trend persisted, Nigeria might approach or exceed the highest number of cases witnessed in 2017 when monkeypox re-emerged.
According to the most recent monkeypox status report acquired , there have been 62 confirmed cases, 204 suspected cases, and one death from the disease since the beginning of the year.
According to Adetifa, various nations have been afflicted by an extraordinary epidemic of monkeypox since January 1, resulting in over 3,000 laboratory-confirmed cases and one fatality from the virus as of June 22.
According to him, prevalent media perception and misunderstanding about monkeypox have fed incorrect narratives about the virus, and the potential danger of discrimination and stigmatisation as a result of this need immediate social and behavior change intervention.
According to World Health Organization Country Representative Walter Mulombo, a new vaccine (MVA-BN) against smallpox and monkeypox has been licensed but is not yet generally available outside of national stockpiles.
According to Alexander Chimbaru, Deputy Representative of WHO Nigeria, infodemics surrounding the monkeypox epidemic must be addressed immediately to prevent the transmission of incorrect and misleading information.
