Nigeria reports 39 new Mpox cases this year

• Nigeria has only seen cases of a milder strain so far.
• The WHO declared the Mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency.
• The disease can also spread from person to person through close physical contact.

Since the beginning of the year, Nigeria has recorded 39 cases of mpox, according to Jide Idris, the director-general of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Idris stated that these cases have occurred across the country and have not been fatal, amid growing concern over the global spread of the disease.

“A total of 39 confirmed cases out of 788 suspected cases and no deaths have been recorded,” Idris told reporters on Thursday.

This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the rapid spread of the new, more dangerous mpox strain, Clade 1b, a public health emergency of international concern—the highest level of alert. However, Odianosen Ehiakhamen, who heads Nigeria’s mpox technical working group, told a local broadcaster on Thursday that Nigeria has only seen cases of a milder strain so far.

Nigeria reported its first mpox case in 1971 and has confirmed cases every year since 2017, Ehiakhamen said. On Wednesday, the WHO declared the mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency. The following day, Sweden announced the first case outside Africa of the more dangerous mpox variant. The UN health agency expressed concern over the increase in cases and deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where at least 548 people have died this year.

According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, previously unaffected countries such as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have reported outbreaks. Mpox, caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals, can also spread from person to person through close physical contact. The disease leads to symptoms such as fever, muscular aches, and large boil-like skin lesions.

On Thursday, Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate announced that Nigeria now requires all travelers to complete an online health form before arrival to help curb the spread of the disease.

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