Nigeria Records 481 Monkeypox Cases, 933 Lasa Fever Cases

So far, Nigeria has recorded 481 confirmed cases of monkeypox, 1,180 suspected cases and seven deaths in 2022.

The Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Ifedayo Adetifa made this known in Abuja at a bi-weekly ministerial media conference anchored by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.

During the conference, Adetifa also revealed that Nigeria has recorded 933 confirmed cases of Lassa fever in 2022, which is about two and a half times higher than the number of cases recorded in 2021.

He explained that there had been 173 Lassa fever deaths in 25 states and 102 local governments with 71 per cent of the deaths recorded in Ondo, Edo and Bauchi states.

“We continue to respond by providing treatment and infection prevention, as there are larger regional or international activities in terms of preparing for vaccine trials.

“Early phase of vaccine trial for Lassa fever has started in Liberia and there had been efforts to look at clinical drug development pathways.

“These are all in a bid to ensure that we reduce fatality which stands at two digits now, to hopefully a single digit,’’ he said.

Speaking on measles cases in the country, he said there have been 18,000 confirmed cases of measles and 234 deaths in 2022.

He, however, noted that the centre has continued to encourage parents to vaccinate children against measles to bring it under control.

Speaking on cholera cases, he disclosed that Nigeria has reported 10,217 cholera cases and 233 deaths in 31 states and 243 local government areas, taking the country to an unenviable position of recording the highest number of cholera cases worldwide.

“We recorded cholera infection everywhere where there were challenges with water, sanitation and hygiene so it does not matter whether the neighbourhood looks rich or looks developed.

“If you have challenges of water, sanitation and hygiene, cholera is not far behind.

"At the moment, we are about to send rapid response teams to Adamawa, Bornu, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina and Yobe because of the rapid increases in case numbers,’’ he said.