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The National Orientation Agency in Akwa Ibom State has said the government traced six Mpox cases to one household in the state.
The development made the government commence a sensitisation exercise to educate the people on the prevalence and prevention of Mpox disease in the state.
This is coming as a report from the ministry of health indicated that Akwa Ibom State recorded eight cases of the Mpox outbreak.
The PUNCH reported on September 11, 2024, that Nigeria recorded 67 confirmed cases of Mpox from 1,031 suspected cases in 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory, according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The states with confirmed cases are Akwa Ibom (eight); Enugu (eight); Bayelsa (six); Cross River (five); Benue (four); Plateau (four); Delta (four); FCT (three); Imo (three); Lagos (three); Rivers (two); Abia (two); Osun (two); Anambra (two); Ogun (two).
Others are Kaduna (one); Gombe (one); Edo (one); Niger (one); Ebonyi (one); Nasarawa (one); Kebbi (one); and Oyo (one).
The NOA coordinator in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mkpoutom Mkpoutom, in an interaction with newsmen, on Monday, said the NCDC was able to trace the six cases in one household after they migrated from Onna Local Government Area of the state to Uyo, the state capital.
“In Onna LGA, about six people were afflicted in one house and those six people unfortunately had to migrate to Uyo for some unknown reasons before the NCDC was able to trace and get down here.
“I think you can see how the thing spread and Uyo now became the second place affected,” he said.
He disclosed that the affected persons had been quarantined while contact tracing was ongoing.
Mkpoutom added that the agency’s staff had been dispatched to affected councils since last week after receiving instructions from the state ministry of health.
“I am sure that you are very much aware that Akwa Ibom is having the highest cases of Mpox right now as we speak.
“So, my people have been on the field since last week when we had the instruction from the ministry of health, in partnership with the state agency on health matters.
“At least 10 local government areas are seriously affected, and some of the most affected local government areas are Uyo, Onna, Mkpat Enin, Ikot Ekpene. At least 10 for now. The meaning is that in the whole federation, Akwa Ibom ranks high in Mpox disease,” he said.
He noted that in Onna Local Government Area alone, about six people were affected by the disease in one house.
Mkpoutom called on the people of the state to report any such cases to the nearest medical centre for treatment.
“We are asking people to please report cases of such. People should not think that it is ordinary rashes (krokro), it is not and the thing is easily spread. It is contracted from bush meat.
“Initially, it was ascribed to have been spread by monkeys but now after having conducted some research, we discovered that it is not spread by monkeys alone. It is even the rats that spread it. And when it gets into a man, it spreads to the house,” he said.
