NIGERIA – The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its multi-country outbreak of mpox situation report, has disclosed that Nigeria is leading the pack of African countries with mpox infections and deaths.

In November last year WHO renamed monkeypox to mpox to reduce the stigma around the virus.

Mpox is a zoonosis, a disease transmitted from animals to humans, with cases often found close to the tropical rainforest where animals carry the virus.

Evidence of mpox virus infection has been found in animals including squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, different species of monkeys, and others.

The WHO epidemiological update showed that from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2023, a total of 83,943 laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox and 75 deaths have been reported to WHO from 110 countries in all six WHO regions.

A breakdown of the confirmed cases in the African region revealed that Nigeria is topping the list of countries with mpox infections with 756; followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 277; Ghana with 116; Cameroon with 18.

Others are the Central African Republic with 13; Liberia with six; Congo and South Africa recorded five cases each; Benin recorded three cases; and Mozambique recorded one case.

The report also showed that only Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Mozambique reported seven, four, three, and one death respectively.

In the Americas, the confirmed cases are 56,694 with 53 deaths; the European region recorded 25,705 cases with five deaths; the African region recorded 1,200 cases and 15 deaths.

The Western Pacific region has 229 cases with no death; the Eastern Mediterranean region recorded 80 cases and one death; and the South-East Asia region has 35 confirmed cases and one death.

WHO supports mpox response in Nigeria

To limit the spread of the disease within Nigeria and prevent its exportation from and importation to the country, WHO representatives from the global, regional and country levels traveled to the city of Abuja, Nigeria from 10–14 October 2022 to meet with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and key stakeholders to discuss the implementation of priority actions to combat the disease. 

The group, which consisted of the WHO representatives at all three levels (global, regional and country), held meetings with the NCDC Director-General and other members of the senior management team, key partners, local public health officials from mpox priority states (Lagos, Ondo, Rivers, and Bayelsa) and clinicians from selected health facilities managing mpox cases.

The five-day visit determined that a national mpox response plan, including components for risk communication and community engagement, is already in place with well-established RCCE coordination at the national level.

Nigeria has an active Incident Management System (IMS) with members from the NCDC, the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Environment, and other partners.

At the state level, all states in the country have Public Health Emergency Operation Centers and affected states have similarly activated their IMS.

To understand vaccine clearance process in the country, the mission representatives met with the leadership of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Following this mission, the WHO Regional Office for Africa and WHO Headquarters will work together to provide early notice to NAFDAC regarding the availability of vaccines for mpox.

For all the latest healthcare industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, and YouTube Channel, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook.