First monkeypox death in Nigeria in 2022; 21 cases confirmed

Nigeria has not had an outbreak of monkeypox since September 2017 but it continues to report sporadic cases of the disease.

Published: 30th May 2022 07:10 PM  |   Last Updated: 30th May 2022 07:10 PM   |  A+A-

Image of a person affected by monkeypox (Photo | World Health Organisation)

By PTI

ABUJA: Nigeria has recorded its first death from monkeypox this year in a patient with underlying medical conditions, the diseases control agency said.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention announced Sunday that in 2022 it has confirmed 21 out of 66 suspected cases of the disease, which is usually endemic in Nigeria and other parts of West and Central Africa.

"The death was reported in a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications," the Nigeria CDC said.

Nigeria has not had an outbreak of monkeypox since September 2017 but it continues to report sporadic cases of the disease.

At least 247 have been confirmed in 22 of its 36 states since then with 3.6% fatality rate, the disease control agency said.

A spike in monkeypox cases reported in Europe and the U.S.

has generated concerns among those countries, many of whom have not recorded a single case of the disease in years.

Nearly 200 cases of the disease have been reported in more than 20 countries not usually known to have outbreaks, the World Health Organization said.

Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic.

One of the new cases in the U.K. was recorded in a man days after his arrival from Nigeria on May 4.

Nigeria has recorded six confirmed cases of the disease the British citizen left the country.

Dr.Ifedayo Adetifa, head of the country's Center for Disease Control, told The Associated Press that nothing shows the British citizen contracted the disease in Nigeria and that the country remains prepared to respond to an outbreak of monkeypox.

"The biggest challenge that you have with a disease such as monkeypox is that it is uncommon and the perceived risk by the population about how dangerous this condition is has been very low, that is why, we have conducted awareness training and advocacy training to increase the level of awareness of health care workers," Adetifa said.


India Matters

Comments

Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.

The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.

flipboard facebook twitter whatsapp