A deadly viral epidemic known as Monkeypox has recently broken out in Bayelsa state.
According to the World Health Organization, Monkeypox is a rare disease that primarily occurs in parts of Central and West Africa, near tropical rain forests.
The virus is known to be similar to the previously eradicated Human smallpox.
Its course of symptoms is however milder than smallpox, although it also causes fatal illness in humans.
The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, confirmed the outbreak, saying that samples of the virus had been sent to the World Health Organisation laboratory in Dakar, Senegal, for confirmation.
He said that the virus has the Central African and the West African types, saying that the the West African type is milder and has no records of mortality.
He listed the symptoms of monkeypox as severe headache, fever, back pains, etc., noting that most worrisome of all the signs are rashes bigger than those caused by chicken pox.
The commissioner said the rashes are usually frightening and spread to the entire body of infected persons.
According to reports, a medical doctor and 10 other individuals have been quarantined in an isolation center in Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital following their infection.
“So far, we have 10 patients and we have created an isolation centre at the NDUTH and most of them are on admission and we are following up the 49 cases that we are suspecting might come down with the illness.” -Etebu
The isolation center was reportedly created by the Nigerian Center for Disease Control and the epidemiological team of the state’s Ministry of Health to control the spread of the virus.
“We have seen cases from as far as Biseni. We invited the NCDC together with our own epidemiological team from the Bayelsa Ministry of Health.”
“We have been able to trace most of the people who have come in contact with the patients.”
He further stated, “The disease has an incubation period and it is also self-limiting in the sense that within two to four weeks, you get healed and it confers you with immunity for life.
“We have mobilised virtually every arsenal at our disposal in terms of sensitising the general public and making them aware by radio programmes, jingles and fliers. So, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has mobilised fully to Bayelsa State. We are on top of the situation.
“The only thing I will tell the general public is to observe hand hygiene and ensure they don’t come in contact with dead animals and their secretions. The disease is air-borne too. So when you come down with it, it is very infectious.
“People should wash their hands whenever they go in or come out of their houses. If they come in touch with animals, they should ensure that they wash their hands.
“They should be very vigilant. People should report any similar cases to the relevant authorities.
“A lot of people have come down with the symptoms, but they are hiding in their houses. If they hide, there is the propensity for the infection to spread.
“It is better to quarantine them and treat them so that we can interrupt the spread of the disease.
“People should be calm and they shouldn’t get frightened. The state has distributed personal protective equipment to workers and they are using them.”