From January to August 2024, Akwa Ibom State has found four cases of monkeypox.
The Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer at the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health, Samuel S. Etuk, shared this news on Wednesday. He was speaking at a meeting held by Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria in Uyo, the state’s capital.
Out of the four cases, two were from Uyo, one was from Nsit Ubium, and the last one was from Onna. The affected three males were aged 2, 4, and 15 years old.
Etuk explained that monkeypox (Mpox) is a virus that can jump from animals to humans. Right now, there isn’t a special treatment for it.
Etuk spoke about the “Role of the Media in Mpox Public Health Emergency Response.” He said, “Here in Akwa Ibom, we have four confirmed cases. Those cases have been managed, but we need to keep preventing it. We should wash our hands regularly, visit the hospital if we notice symptoms, and avoid self-medicating.”
The Mpox virus can jump from animals to humans and also from humans to humans. This can happen through direct contact with blood, body fluids, or broken skin from infected animals. Because there’s no special treatment for Mpox, people need to be careful about physical contact and maintain good personal hygiene. Journalists should help spread this message, as their reach can be wider than ours.”
Nkoyo Umoh, the Program Officer for Social and Behavior Change at BA-N, urged the media to spread the word about how to prevent infection and control the spread of the virus.
Umoh noted that by engaging with the media effectively, people’s opinions and behaviors towards Mpox could be improved for the better.