From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has announced that an additional six of the samples taken for test from suspected cases for Monkey Pox have proven 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 diagnosed cases of the disease in Nigeria.
Ehanire who made the announcement in his office Friday, 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.
Regardless, the minister called for calm among 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 Monkey Pox can be managed, adding that as frightening as the manifestation of the ailment may seem, no fatality has been recorded till date.
As at October 25 a total of 94 suspected cases had been reported from 11 states including Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Rivers states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). However only the nine samples taken for investigation have returned positive.