The Lagos State Government has advised residents not panic over the
recent reported outbreak of the infectious monkey pox disease in the
state.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, cautioned residents
on Friday at the bio-security update meeting on the situation report of
the disease in the state.
Abayomi revealed that three suspected cases of monkey pox were reported
by health facilities in the past one month, adding that the cases tested
positive for the infectious disease as revealed by reports of
laboratory investigation, according the News Agency of Nigeria.
This came after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had in its latest
report on monkey pox revealed that Lagos continues to lead cases of the
viral disease in the country with 29 total reported cases and 11
confirmed cases spanning January to September, 2019.
But the commission, while speaking on the suspected cases in a
statement, said, “The patients were treated at the specialised
infectious disease isolation centre of Mainland Hospital, Yaba, and they
have since recovered and (been) discharged.
“The close contacts and family members of these cases were actively
monitored for 21 days for any development of signs and symptoms of
monkey pox and none of these contacts developed any symptoms.” Abayomi
said in a statement.
He said that the state government, in collaboration with the Federal
Ministry of Health, through the Centre for Disease Control, was
maintaining relevant surveillance activities in all local government
areas to prevent an outbreak of the disease.
He advised health workers to ensure they take universal safety
precautions when dealing with patients, saying that appropriate personal
protective clothing must be worn when attending to cases of contagious
infectious diseases.
He also advised that precaution should be taken when coming into
contact with wildlife such as monkeys or rodents, especially if such
animals exhibited features of the disease.
Abayomi added, “Health workers are advised to observe universal
safety precautions when dealing with patients and report any suspected
case of monkey pox to the medical officer of health in their local
government or the Directorate of Disease Control, through these lines:
08023169485 and 08023377487.”
Lagos confirms three monkey pox cases in one month
Reviewed by Jejelola Olamilekan
on
October 19, 2019
Rating: 5
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