There is still panic in Bayelsa, Niger Delta part of Nigeria over a fresh outbreak of the viral monkey pox disease which a government official has played down.
File Photo
Bayelsa Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, on Monday dispelled the rumour that two new cases of monkey pox disease have been detected in the state.
Etebu told the News Agency of Nigeria on telephone that the two cases were not fresh but old ones.
According to him, blood samples sent for confirmatory tests at the World Health Organisation’s reference laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, returned in batches.
“The additional two positive results, though not a new outbreak, will bring the total recorded cases in the state to five.
“The World Health Organisation in September confirmed three cases of monkey pox disease in Bayelsa,” he said.
Etebu denied that the disease was spreading further. He said the epidemic had been largely contained following the joint efforts of the state government, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and international public health partners.
The commissioner said most of the 21 patients isolated at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, Yenagoa, where the index case was reported, had fully recovered and discharged.
On the current number of patients under surveillance at the quarantine centre, Etebu said: “I can tell you that many of the patients being monitored and given care at the isolation centre have been discharged.
“But the situation is dynamic and the number keeps changing; I have not looked at the data for yesterday and may not give you information that is accurate,” he said.
NAN reports that a family of three reportedly ate monkey meat at Agbura area of Yenagoa, Bayelsa, and had suspected cases of monkey pox disease on September 12.