Nigeria is reported to be one of the countries that have reported cases of monkeypox, with over 3,200 cases confirmed in 48 countries and in five of its regions globally, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
“In Nigeria, the proportion of women affected is much higher than elsewhere. It is critical to better understand how the disease is spreading there,” stated by WHO’s director general, Tendros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Tendros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated this on Thursday at the meeting of the WHO’s monkeypox emergency committee meeting. He said this disease is primarily among gay partners who had had sexual intimacy with new partners as a result spreading fast in the newly affected countries.
He also said;
“Person-to-person transmission is on-going and is likely underestimated,”
He said so far in 2022, almost 1,500 suspected cases of monkeypox and around 70 deaths had been reported in Central Africa.
He said that the cases in Africa were in the Central African Republic and Cameroon, but also primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To add to that, almost 1,500 suspected cases of monkeypox and around 70 deaths had been reported in Central Africa so far in 2022.
“Few of these cases are confirmed, and little is known about their circumstances. While the epidemiology and viral clade in these cases may be different, it is a situation that cannot be ignored,” he stated.
He also said;
“we have sometimes seen the consequences of countries not being transparent, of not sharing information.”
The WHO chief Tendros Adhanom Ghebreyesus requested for laboratory investigation, contact tracing, genome sequencing, case finding and implementation of infection prevention and control measures.
He went further to explain that;
“All countries have to remain vigilant and strengthen their capacities to prevent onward transmission of monkeypox. It is likely that many countries will have missed opportunities to identify cases, including cases in the community without any recent travel.”
He stated the importance of addressing discrimination, stigma, and misinformation in monkeypox and other outbreaks.
“We also need to work together as an international community to generate the necessary clinical efficacy and safety data on vaccines and therapeutics against monkeypox and ensure their equitable distribution,” he said.
In Nigeria, the proportion of women affected is much higher than elsewhere. It is critical to better understand how the disease is spreading there.
The mysterious cluster of monkeypox was first discovered in the United Kingdom (UK) more than 6weeks ago and it was brought to the knowledge of WHO, who was told of a family cluster of three cases without any recent traveling records.
