The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said on Friday that the country recorded one new case of Mpox.
The new case brings the total number of confirmed Mpox cases to 40 out of 830 suspected cases.
NCDC Director General Jide Idris disclosed this during a joint NCDC-World Health Organization national briefing in Abuja.
Government action plan
The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in Nigeria also announced that Nigeria will receive a donation of Mpox vaccines from the United States Government.
This donation will enable the country to enhance its response to the current Mpox outbreak and improve public health outcomes.
According to Mr. Idris, Nigeria has taken proactive measures since Mpox was designated as a public health emergency of international concern, including the establishment of an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and the implementation of an Incident Management System (IMS).
These structures are designed to enhance the country’s response to the outbreak and facilitate effective coordination of public health efforts.
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The Director General said: “Currently, we have 40 confirmed cases out of 830 suspected cases. We have not recorded any deaths, which is remarkable. We have developed an incident action plan to address each area, using several pillars.
“We have met with state governments and state health commissioners to advise them on how to establish their emergency preparedness and response teams, capacities and action plans. They will coordinate this with their respective local government areas.
“Another key aspect is surveillance. Of the 40 cases reported in the country, they are spread across about 12 to 13 states. Many cases are in the south-south and south-east, and some in Lagos, Ogun and other areas in the north. Our plans are to focus on these states to reduce the number of cases and conduct active surveillance to detect more cases.”
Mr. Idris also explained that the agency needs to “improve our laboratory services. All confirmed cases so far were validated through genomic sequencing in two laboratories: the National Research Laboratory in Abuja and Lagos. Due to the spread, we need to increase the number of laboratories to conduct testing, including the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and the African Genomics Centre.”
He stressed the need to enhance laboratory capacity, particularly in the South-South and South-East regions, to strengthen the response to the outbreak. He also highlighted the centre's intensified efforts to raise public awareness and educate people about the disease, its symptoms and prevention measures.
She also acknowledged challenges in data collection and said the center is actively addressing these issues to improve data quality and inform response strategies.
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WHO Country Representative Walter Mulombo stressed the crucial need for continued and enhanced surveillance of zoonotic pathogens in natural environments, which have the potential to cause disease outbreaks.
He stressed the importance of monitoring microbial activity to enable early detection and rapid response to potential threats to public health.
About MPox
Mpox is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease affecting several African countries, including the rainforests of central and western Africa. The exact reservoir of the virus is unknown, although rodents, squirrels, and monkeys are suspected to play a role in transmission. Mpox virus can be transmitted from animals to humans and from humans to humans.
Transmission from animal to human can occur through direct contact with blood, body fluids, skin or mucosal lesions of infected animals such as monkeys, squirrels and rodents, potentially through a bite, scratch, handling or consumption of undercooked infected wild meat or other products.
Person-to-person transmission occurs when an individual comes into contact with the virus from an infected person or from materials contaminated with the virus, such as clothing or bedding.