The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Monkey pox

  • Monkey pox: Bayelsa sets up response team

    Monkey pox: Bayelsa sets up response team

    The Bayelsa State Government on Friday set up a 12-member rapid response team consisting of top medical practitioners and public health experts following the outbreak of Monkey pox, a viral disease, in the state.

    The government also inaugurated other sub-teams with the mandates to prevent the spread of the virus and trace possible victims of the virus.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebimitula Etebu, who set up the committees, reassured the citizens that the epidemic was under control, adding that there was not need to panic.

    He said 13 suspected cases were at different stages of recovery at the makeshift isolation ward in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri.

    The commissioner said over 50 suspected victims were being followed at various places in the state, insisting that the situation was not beyond control.

    He, however, implored the people to observe the simple habit  of hand washing and gave some boxes of hand sanitizers to the team entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the disease.

    Etebu said:  ”At present, as we speak, we have 13 suspected cases at different stages of recovery following treatment at the makeshift isolation ward at NDUTH, Okolobiri. There are also over 50 persons being actively followed at differently located places in the state.

    ”And this is in order to quickly detect any new cases following exposure to suspected cases. The state Ministry of Health, with the support of the international community led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), international partners and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have since embarked on enlightenment campaigns.

    ”Active disease surveillance has also been carried out, case management and other sundry measures have also been carried out in a bid to halt the spread of the disease in the state.

    ”New suspected cases are being reported everyday in the state. The situation can get out of hand if critical measures are not quickly put in place and that is why we have thought it expedient to inform the public.”

     

     

  • Outbreak of new viral disease ‘monkey pox’ hits Bayelsa

    Outbreak of new viral disease ‘monkey pox’ hits Bayelsa

    … Doctor, 10 others quarantined

    A new viral epidemic known as “monkey pox” has broken out in Bayelsa State.

    A medical doctor and 10 other persons who came down with the monkey pox had been quarantined in an isolation centre created at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH) Okolobiri, Yenagoa local government area of the state.

    The isolation centre was reportedly created by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the epidemiological team of the state’s Ministry of Health to stop the spread of the disease.

    It was learnt that the NCDC and the epidemiological team were tracking 49 other victims, who had come in contact with the infected persons.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, who confirmed the development, said samples of the virus, had been sent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, for confirmation.

    He described monkey pox as a viral disease caused by a group of viruses that include chicken pox and small pox, adding that the first case was noticed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and subsequently had outbreaks in West Africa.

    Saying the virus has the Central African and the West African types, the commissioner said the West African type is milder and has no records of mortality.

    “Recently in Bayelsa State we noticed a suspected outbreak of monkey pox. It has not been confirmed. We have sent samples to the World Health Organisation (WHO) reference laboratory in Dakar, Senegal. When that comes out we will be sure that it is confirmed. But from all indications, it points towards it,” he said.

    He said as the name implied, the virus was first seen in monkey, but could also be found in all bush animals such as rats, squirrels and antelopes.

    Etebu added: “The source is usually all animals. It was first seen in monkeys and that is why it is called monkey pox. But every bush animals like rats, squirrels, antelopes are involved. So, the secretions from particularly dead animals are highly contagious.”

    The commissioner listed the symptoms of monkey pox as severe headache, fever and back pain amongst others, adding that most worrisome of all the signs were rashes bigger than those caused by chicken pox.