From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja

Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has announced that additional six of the samples taken for testing from suspected cases of monkeypox have tested positive.

These include two cases each in Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states; one in Enugu State and one in the Federal Capital Territory. With these newly confirmed cases, there are nine correctly diagnosed cases of the disease in Nigeria. Ehanire who made the announcement in his office yesterday, further stated that investigations are on-going to see if any of the new cases has a link with the Bayelsa cluster, where the outbreak started.

He explained that the newly confirmed cases are patients already being managed by public health authorities and have been receiving appropriate clinical care from the onset of the illness.

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Regardless, the minister called for calm among members of the public, as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is working with the affected states to ensure case finding and the provision of treatment for those down with the disease.

He reiterated that monkeypox could be managed, adding that as frightening as the manifestation of the ailment may seem, no fatality has been recorded to date. As at October 25 a total of 94 suspected cases have been reported from 11 states, namely: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Rivers, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However, only nine samples taken for investigation have returned positive.