The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed five new cases of monkeypox in Lagos, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
The resurgence came two years after the index case was reported in the country.
While Lagos, in the current reappearance, recorded three cases, Rivers and Akwa Ibom have one each.
The latest situation report on monkeypox and Lassa fever published by the NCDC yesterday said, “In the reporting month (September 2019), 15 new suspected monkeypox cases were reported from five states – Lagos (five), Rivers (two), Akwa Ibom (three), Zamfara (one), Delta (one), Imo (two) and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT (one).
“Five of the 15 suspected cases were confirmed positive for monkeypox in three states. Five of the suspected cases tested positive for chickenpox, while others are for further evaluation. No death was recorded in the reporting month.”
The NCDC said a total of 81 suspected cases had been reported so far in 2019, of which 39 confirmed cases were recorded in nine states (Bayelsa, Lagos, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Anambra, Cross River, and Oyo), with one death.
The centre noted that of the confirmed cases, 59 percent was from two states, Delta (28 percent) and Lagos (26 percent); the most affected age group was 21-40 years; and 84.6 percent of confirmed cases had a male-to-female ratio of 2.6:1.
According to the NCDC, since the beginning of the outbreak in September 2017, 176 confirmed cases and nine deaths have been recorded in 18 states (Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Delta, Bauchi, FCT, Abia, Oyo, Enugu, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Edo, and Anambra).