Ebonyi State Government has begun public health sensitisation for the prevention of the spread of the deadly viral Monkey-pox (M-pox) disease which is fast spreading across the country.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezirike, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abakaliki, said the state through the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies had embarked on public sensitization to raise people’s awareness of the disease.
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According to him, the state government was not relenting in ensuring that citizens of the state were protected against the disease through various health safety measures.
He said that health workers had embarked on public awareness on the existence of M-pox and the need for the public to maintain standard health safety measures to prevent its spread in the state.
Umezirike, who revealed that the state has recorded the first case of the M-pox disease, noted that efforts were in place to contain it and stop it from spreading.
He said that the virus was recorded at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) on August 10.
According to the commissioner, the index case, was a 32-year-old male farmer, from Ugwulangwu in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state, who resides in Abakaliki.
He said the index case travelled to Rivers State and returned to Ebonyi on July 7 and presented with history of fever, masculopapular rash, sore throat, headache and general weakness.
The commissioner said: “A presumptive diagnosis of monkey-pox was made to rule out smallpox.
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“Sample was collected and sent to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Reference Laboratory and the result came out positive for monkey pox virus.”
Umezirike said that the patient was admitted in Ebonyi Isolation Centre and was currently being managed for monkey-pox and responding to treatment.
He also disclosed that seven contacts had been identified and line-listed which were being followed up.
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