Ruth Oginyi
The government of Ebonyi State Monday said they have recorded the first case of monkey-pox disease outbreak in the State.
Monkey-pox had since its outbreak in the country been recorded in 19 states.
The case was discovered at the Alex Ekwueme federal teaching hospital on the 10th of August, 2022.
He has been transferred to an isolation center at unity square where he is receiving treatment.
Dr. Daniel Umezuruike Commissioner for Health, in the state, said the state recorded a total of 32 suspected cases but only 1 confirmed case.
He said the patient was a farmer from the Ugwulangwu area of Ohaozara.
According to Umezuruike, the confirmed patient is believed to have contacted the disease from Rivers state where he traveled recently, and presented symptoms of the disease when he returned to the State.
“Notification of a suspected case of Monkeypox on the 10th of August, 2022 at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki.
“A 32-year-old male farmer who hails from Ugwulangwu in Ohaozara LGA but resides in Abakaliki said to have traveled to Rivers State returned to Ebonyi on 7th of July 2022 presented with a history of fever, maculopapular rash, sore throat, headache and generalized weakness of the body. A presumptive diagnosis of Monkeypox was made to rule out Smallpox”.
He further explained that the patient’s sample was collected and sent to the NCDC National Reference Laboratory and the result came out positive for Monkeypox Virus.
“The patient was admitted to Ebonyi State isolation center and is currently being managed for monkeypox and he is responding to treatment.
“7 contacts have been identified and line listed which are currently been followed up. Active case search has been heightened across all the LGAs in the State to strengthen case findings.
“Since the onset of this outbreak, Ebonyi has recorded a total of 32 suspected cases with only 1 confirmed case.
“Case fatality rate is still 0 (as there has been no record of any death both in suspected and confirmed cases) in the state”.
The commissioner explained that an EOC has been activated to coordinate the outbreak investigation and response across the 13LGAs in the State and is currently supporting response activities to contain the monkeypox outbreak via active case search, epidemiological investigation, and contact line listing, and monitoring of all exposed contacts.
“Public Health measures have been put in place to ensure effective sample collection and testing to enable laboratory confirmation. Risk communication activities have been heightened to advise the public on preventive measures”, he added.
The Commissioner informed Ebonyi residents that monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms in humans similar to those seen in smallpox patients, but much less severe and with a low case fatality rate.
Adding that the fatality rate could be more with the youths than the aged people unlike Covid- 19 which the fatality rate was more in the aged.
“It has an incubation period of 5 to 21 days. Monkeypox is self-limiting which means patients tend to recover with time. However, supportive care and management of conditions are required and are mostly successful.
“Ebonyians are advised to remain calm and go about their normal business. Avoid self-medication and report any suspected case to the nearest health facility.
“Public health measures are to be strictly adhered to. Treatment is free and is been supported by Ebonyi State Government”, he said.
He urged Ebonyi people to maintain regular hand-washing, use nose mask, and maintain other precautionary measures.
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