The Association of Resident Doctors at University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin (ARD-UITH) has warned Nigerians against eating undercooked wild animal meat to avoid contracting the deadly Mpox virus.
ARD-UITH President Yusuf Muhammed gave the advice in Ilorin on Monday during a chat with journalists.
He warned people to avoid contact with dead animals as much as possible.
Mr Muhammed explained that Mpox is a zoonotic infection that affects animals and can be transmitted to humans.
“Mpox is not something completely new, but it is common for new strains to emerge from time to time, and recently the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning that the strain currently detected is new.
“The fear is that human antibodies will not be able to protect against this strain as they did against the previous one. This represents a significant threat to people and we all need to be on alert,” he said.
The president of ARD-UITH described monkeypox as a viral disease related to the now eradicated smallpox virus.
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According to him, initial symptoms are usually flu-like, including fever, chills, exhaustion, headache and muscle weakness, often followed by a painful or itchy rash with raised lesions that form crusts.
He advised Nigerians not to panic and to report suspected cases to the nearest health agencies where proper investigation and contact tracing can be done.
“The public should not panic but report cases to health agencies so that contact tracing and proper investigation can be done so that at-risk people can also be quarantined and preventive measures can be taken,” he advised.
He assured that the association was fully prepared to use all the arsenal, responses and preparations deployed during COVID-19 to combat any eventual outbreak in the country.
“The ARD, from the national body, and the UITH are observing the trends, preventive measures and advice from the scientific community so that we can evaluate them and contribute our share to the body of knowledge.
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“So far, there have been no reported cases of the outbreak in Nigeria. As far as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is concerned, WHO is alerting all countries to be on the lookout for possible outbreaks,” he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Mpox outbreak in parts of Africa now a public health emergency of international concern.
The organization revealed that at least 450 people died during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the disease has since spread to central and eastern Africa and Sweden.
He added that the disease can spread through close contact, such as touching, kissing or sexual intercourse, as well as through contaminated materials such as bed sheets, clothing and needles.