Nigeria records first monkeypox death as number of cases increases to 21

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced on Monday, 30th May  2022 that one person has died of monkeypox in Nigeria.

The last time Nigeria recorded a monkeypox death was in 2019.

In a statement released, the NCDC said as of May 28, 2022, a total of 21 confirmed cases have been reported from nine states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Adamawa (5), Lagos (4), Bayelsa (2), Delta (2), Cross River (2), FCT (2), Kano (2), Imo (1), Rivers (1) are the states that have reported cases.

The disease claimed the life of a 40-year-old patient who had underlying co-morbidity and was taking immunosuppressive drugs, according to the NCDC.

There has been “no evidence of any novel or atypical transmission of the virus, nor changes in its clinical manifestation noted (including symptoms, profile, and virulence)” among the 21 cases reported thus far in 2022, according to the paper.

Monkeypox is an uncommon viral virus that is difficult to spread among people. It’s usually a minor, self-limiting condition, and most patients recover in a few of weeks. Severe illness, on the other hand, can strike some people.

Monkeypox is routinely seen in Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana (identified in animals only), Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

When monkeypox or any other illness occurs frequently in a country, it is said to be endemic.

However, cases of monkeypox have lately been reported in over 20 countries where the disease is not common, causing widespread worry.

According to the WHO, the vast majority of cases recorded thus far have no known travel links to an endemic location.