- It comes after initial denials by the State Commissioner for Health, Henry Ayuk
The Cross River State Government has confirmed a case of Mpox in the Okoshe community, located in Obudu Local Government Area.
The confirmation follows a report from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and comes after initial denials by the State Commissioner for Health, Henry Ayuk.
Speaking to reporters in Calabar on Sunday, Mr. Ayuk revealed that the National Reference Laboratory in Abuja confirmed Mpox in a female patient from Obudu. The case was first flagged by an Ebonyi epidemiologist who suspected either Mpox or chickenpox after the patient sought treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Abakaliki on 19 August. Subsequent testing confirmed Mpox and ruled out chickenpox.
The state government is now taking proactive measures to prevent an outbreak in the area. “While we are still investigating the patient’s travel history, the government is moving swiftly to contain any potential spread in Obudu,” the commissioner stated.
To coordinate the response, the Mpox Emergency Operation Centre has been activated, with Governor Bassey Otu’s special adviser on health, Ekpo Ekpo, appointed as incident manager. Additionally, the Obudu Local Government Area response team has been instructed to collaborate with state health officials to mitigate the situation.
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Cross River has urged the state government to enhance surveillance efforts due to the region’s susceptibility to such outbreaks.
This development comes as the NCDC reported that Nigeria has recorded 40 confirmed Mpox cases out of 830 suspected cases nationwide. During a joint briefing in Abuja with the World Health Organization (WHO), NCDC Director-General Jide Idris noted that Nigeria would receive Mpox vaccine doses donated by the U.S. Government.
The WHO emphasized the importance of the vaccine as Mpox remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.