The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed 241 cases of monkeypox, up from 220 so far this year.
According to the NCDC’s latest report on the disease for week 33 which was published on its website, the confirmed cases were reported from 30 states in the country.
There are no fewer than 604 suspected cases of the infection.
Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease (i.e. an infection transmitted from animals to humans) that occurs sporadically, primarily in remote villages of Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.
The report read in part, “74 new suspected cases were reported in Epi week 33, 2022 (August 15 to 21, 2022) from 28 states – Lagos (14), Ogun (6), Imo (6), Ondo (4), Adamawa (3), Akwa Ibom (3), Anambra (3), Ebonyi (3), Edo (3), Katsina (3), Bauchi (2), Cross River (2), Delta (2), Ekiti (2), Federal Capital Territory (2), Kaduna (2), Kogi (2), Osun (2), Abia (1), Borno (1), Kwara (1), Nasarawa (1), Oyo (1), Plateau (1), Rivers (1), Taraba (1), Yobe (1) and Zamfara (1).
“Of the 74 suspected cases, 21 new confirmed positive cases were reported in Epi week 33, 2022 from 12 states – Lagos (7), Adamawa (2), Ebonyi (2), Imo (2), Akwa Ibom (1), Anambra (1), Edo (1), FCT (1), Katsina (1), Kaduna (1), Kogi (1) and Ondo (1).
“From January 1 to August 21, 2022, there have now been 604 suspected cases and 241 confirmed cases (161 males, 80 females) from 30 states – Lagos (42), Ondo (19), Rivers (16), Adamawa (15), Bayelsa (14), Edo (13), Delta (12), FCT (11), Imo (10), Abia (9), Nasarawa (9), Anambra (9), Ogun (7), Plateau (6), Taraba (5), Kwara (5), Kano (5), Gombe (4), Cross River (4), Oyo (4), Katsina (4), Borno (3), Benue (3), Kogi (3), Ebonyi (3), Akwa Ibom (2), Bauchi (1), Niger (1), Osun (1) and Kaduna (1).
“Two new deaths were reported in Epi week 33; one each in Taraba and Kogi states. In summary, six deaths have been recorded in six states in 2022 – Delta (1), Lagos (1), Ondo (1) Akwa Ibom (1), Taraba (1) and Kogi (1) with a case fatality rate of 2.4 per cent.”
Lassa fever cases
Also, the NCDC has said the number of confirmed cases of Lassa fever in the country has increased to 909 in week 35 of 2022, up from the previous 899 cases recorded in week 34.
The confirmed cases for week 35 is higher than the confirmed cases recorded in the same period in 2021 by 544.
The centre disclosed in its latest situation report on the disease obtained by our correspondent on Sunday.
Ten new cases, according to the report, were recorded in Ondo, Edo and Nasarawa states.
It also showed that there were 6,547 suspected cases of the disease in the country.
The breakdown of the confirmed cases showed that while 25 states had recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 local government areas, Ondo, Edo and Bauchi states alone accounted for 70 per cent of the confirmed cases.
One death was also recorded as the death toll hits 180, from the previous 179.
The report read in part, “In week 35, the number of new confirmed cases increased from five in week 34, 2022 to 10. These cases were reported in Ondo, Edo and Nasarawa states.
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 35, 2022, 170 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate of 18.7 per cent which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (22.7 per cent).
“In total for 2022, 25 states have recorded at least one confirmed case across 101 local government areas.
“Of all the confirmed cases, 70 per cent are from Ondo (31 per cent), Edo (26 per cent), and Bauchi (13 per cent).”
