The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported a total of 39 confirmed cases of monkeypox with no fatalities across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Director General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, made the revelation at a press briefing on the declaration of monkey pox as a public health emergency of international concern on Thursday.
He said the NCDC is intensifying surveillance across Nigeria to swiftly detect and respond to any new cases.
According to Idris, the NCDC all port health services across all 5 international airports, 10 seaports, and 51 land/foot crossing borders are on high alert.
He added that some states have also been put on high alert including Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Rivers, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom, Adamawa,Taraba and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency, worried by the rise in cases in DRC and the spread to nearby countries.
The WHO called a meeting of experts to study the outbreak and make a recommendation to the UN health agency’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Below are all you need to know about mpox
What is Mpox?
Mpox is a rare disease caused by the mpox virus. This virus usually affects rodents, such as rats or mice, or nonhuman primates, such as monkeys and it also affects human.
Symptoms
Mpox symptoms may start 3 to 17 days after you’re exposed. The time between when you’re exposed and when you have symptoms is called the incubation period.
Mpox symptoms last 2 to 4 weeks and may include: Fever, skin rash, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle aches and backaches, chills and tredness.
About one to four days after you begin having a fever, a skin rash starts.
The mpox rash often first appears on the face, hands or feet and then spreads to other parts of the body. But in cases linked to the outbreak that started recently in Nigeria, the rash often started in the genital area, mouth, or throat.
The mpox rash goes through many stages. Flat spots turn into blisters. Then the blisters fill with pus, scab over and fall off over a period of 2 to 4 weeks.
You can spread mpox while you have symptoms; from when your symptoms start until your rash and scabs heal.
How does the mpox virus spread?
The mpox virus causes mpox. The virus spreads through close contact with an infected animal or person. Or it can spread when a person handles materials such as blankets that have been in contact with someone who has mpox.
The mpox virus spreads from person to person through:
-Direct contact with rashes, scabs or body fluids of a person with mpox.
-Extended close contact (more than four hours) with respiratory droplets from an infected person. This includes sexual contact.
-Clothes, sheets, blankets or other materials that have been in contact with rashes or body fluids of an infected person.
-An infected pregnant person can spread the mpox virus to a fetus.
Mpox spreads from an animal to a person through:
-Animal bites or scratches.
-Wild game that is cooked for food.
-Products, such as skins or furs, made of infected animals.
-Direct contact with body fluids or rashes of animals with mpox.
How to prevent mpox
Take these steps to prevent infection with or the spread of the mpox virus:
-Avoid close contact with people who have a rash that looks like mpox.
-Avoid handling clothes, sheets, blankets or other materials that have been in contact with an infected animal or person.
-Isolate people who have mpox from healthy people.
-Wash your hands well with soap and water after any contact with an infected person or animal. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
-Avoid animals that may carry the virus.
Some smallpox vaccines can prevent mpox, including the ACAM2000 and Jynneos vaccines. These vaccines can be used to prevent mpox because smallpox and mpox are caused by related viruses.
Healthcare professionals may suggest that people who have been exposed to mpox get vaccinated. Some people who are at risk of exposure to the virus in their work, such as lab workers, may get vaccinated too.
The CDC doesn’t recommend that everyone get vaccinated against mpox at this time.
If you noticed any of the above symptoms, report to NCDC.
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