Three cases of monkey pox have formally been confirmed in Nigeria.
This follows receipt of the laboratory report from Senegal.
The cases are recorded in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, told journalists in Abuja that of the 21 samples sent to Senegal for laboratory analysis, 19 results had been received.
According to him, two others were still being expected.
He disclosed that four cases from Lagos were negative, 12 cases from Bayelsa were also negative, while three from Bayelsa were confirmed cases.
“With these results from the WHO Regional Laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, three suspected monkey pox outbreak in Yenagoa has been confirmed with laboratory evidence,’’ he said.
The minister recalled that on September 22, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) received a report of a suspected case of monkey pox virus from Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri, Bayelsa.
According to him, as at October 13, there were 17 suspected cases reported from Yenagoa Local Government Area in Bayelsa.
He said additionally, 43 other suspected cases have been reported from Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Lagos, Enugu, Nasarawa and Rivers states as well FCT.
The minister said that government expected that many of the cases being reported from other states in Nigeria were not caused by the monkey pox virus.
While pledging the determination of the government to continue to investigate all the cases that looked like monkey pox, he said the strain of monkey pox in the country was not deadly.
He warned members of the public against creating tension and not stigmatise the victims of the disease.
“I am worried with this type of attitude people who have it might think the next thing is dead, so far nobody died from the disease.
“We have lived with HIV; people affected by HIV are living a longer life, there are many infections such as hepatitis B and C and the people affected by the disease are living a longer life.
“We should not stigmatize this disease,’’ he said.
Also speaking on the issued, Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chike Ihekwazu, said monkey pox was largely a self-limiting disease for which all suspected cases reported in the country were doing well.
He added that Nigeria had not recorded any death from the disease.
He also stressed that even before confirmation of the case, necessary public health measures were in place.
