Ekiti State Government
has confirmed two suspected monkeypox cases in the state, even as Ogun
State Government refuted a report credited to the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control, NCDC, listing the state among those affected by the
viral disorder.
Monkey-pox disease
“We have two cases at Okemesi Ekiti. Tests are still being carried out
and not until it is confirmed, we can’t come out with any official
statement”, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Modupe Alade
said in a press conference in Ado Ekiti.
The victims, Alade noted, were discovered in Okemesi Ekiti, a border
town with Osun State in Ekiti West Local Government , have been
quarantined while their blood samples have been taken to Abuja for
laboratory tests.
Meanwhile, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State government refuted the report
credited to the NCDC, saying there was no incident of monkey pox in the
state.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye who revealed this
in his office,
said the case has not been comfirmed as a case of Monkey Pox in the
first instance and that no due process was completed before the case was
reported.
“It was very surprising as the State Commissioner for Health and the
Chief epidemiologist of the state to hear that Ogun State was listed, We
have not incidented any confirmed case of monkey pox in the state, Ogun
state doesn’t have a single case.
“Yes, there was an overzealous officer of the Ministry who saw somebody
with skin lesion in the state hospital, Ijebu -Ode and unfortunately
called the Federal Ministry of Health and incidented suspected case.
“Any patient in the category of that patient that was incidented can not
be considered as a suspected case because the patient has another
primary problem that can give rise to skin lesion, that is not a
suspected case.
“Further questioning was even very revealing that the skin lesion the
patient had was not even pathognomonic of monkey pox, it was not
suggestive of monkey pox but more of another skin lesion and the
screening revealed that, that negates the entire report itself.
“We are not averse to reporting one, if there is a case, and we are not
willing to cover up a case but we must also not sent people panicking
for things that we do not have.
“We have seen, classically the distribution of rash in monkey pox is
that the rashes tends to be more on the face and symbolically at the
palm and the sole of the feet, this patient has neither of those and
when we did a secondary screening, we discovered that there’s even a
primary reason why the patient had the rash”, he remarked.
Meantime, following the outbreak of Monkey Pox in the neighbouring Ekiti
State, Osun State government has created three isolation centres to
handle the case in case the state is equally affected in the future.
The government also said doctors and other health workers in the state
would be trained and sensitized on how to prevent and handle viral
monkey pox disease in the state.
Addressing a press conference in Osogbo yesterday, the state
Commissioners fo Health, Information and Environment, Dr. Rafiu
Kusamotu, Mr. Lani Baderinwa and Oluwagbemiga Oyinlola respectively
advised residents of the state to avoid contact with animals or animal
products and also keep proper hygiene.
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/monkey-pox-ekiti-confirms-two-suspected-cases/
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/monkey-pox-ekiti-confirms-two-suspected-cases/
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