A Rapid Surveillance Team has been deployed to track any active case of monkeypox in Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.
The Director-General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong announced a chat with newsmen in Calabar over rumours of active cases of monkeypox in parts of the state.
She explained that people can contract monkeypox from animal bites or direct contact with rodents or contaminated foodstuffs by these animals, stating “it is easily transmittable from human to human.”
Early symptoms she noted, include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, and a general feeling of discomfort and exhaustion.
Dr. Ekpenyong, who debunked the rumour said, “there is no active case of Monkey Pox in any of the 18 Local Government Areas of the state. The state government is committed to the detection and management of related cases. We have deployed a health awareness and sensitization team as well as a rapid surveillance team to track any case of monkeypox.
“There is no need to panic as our teams are working hard using the preventive medical approach. I am strongly appealing to people to comply with all the medical advice given to them by our health teams as they go from house to house.
“Cross River State has always been a state with proactive approaches to outbreak responses. From the onset, we try to activate immediate search and border control measures like we are doing with poliomyelitis control, and as we did during the COVID-19 and Lassa fever pandemics.
“As of today May 16th 2022, there is no active case of monkeypox in Cross River State. We have ensured that the state manages every symptom of monkeypox, especially in those local government areas where we previously recorded a few cases,” she stated.
The DG disclosed that the state had two cases of monkeypox in February 2022 and tracked all those, who came in contact with the cases, noting “we will not relent in our efforts to prevent the spread of the disease since we are aware of how transmittable it can be with a lot of people coming into Cross River from other states where there are active cases.
“We are working with our partners like World Health Organization, UNICEF and others in surveillance activities, periodic training of our health workers on how to identify and differentiate phenomenal symptoms of these prevalent diseases as we do not limit our focus to Monkeypox alone.
“We are also aware of the purported Cholera outbreak, especially this rainy season. We are relying on our health promotion unit, the social mobilization team, the media and other relevant stakeholders to enhance sensitization so that people will adopt preventive measures and approaches to prevent it,” Ekpenyong further said.
The Director-General urged residents to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene and report any suspected case to the closest health facility for rapid response, investigation and possible management.
Dominica Nwabufo
