Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government has confirmed 8 cases of Monkey-pox in parts of the state.
The state Epidemiologist, Okechukwu Ogbodo, disclosed this in Enugu at a two day training for Red Cross Surveillance and Risk Communication officers.
He said that about 29 cases were reported, out of which eight were confirmed after their samples were taken to Abuja for examination.
“We have 29 suspected cases of M-pox in Enugu State. That is, those that are presented with clinical signs and symptoms of Mpox. We sent all of them to the laboratory and 8 of them came back as confirmed cases.
“Six of them were found in Enugu South while two of them were found in Nkanu West, that’s why we are engaging the public about it,” Ogbodo said.
According to him, the state government had been proactive in tackling the disease as it has begun training healthcare workers to be able to identify the disease when it occurs.
He added that the state government had mapped out some cottage hospitals at different locations where suspected cases would be managed effectively.
Also speaking, Mr Tony Udegbu, the branch Secretary of Red Cross in Enugu State, said that the 200 volunteers were trained in partnership with the Ministry of Health as part of efforts to kick M-pox disease out of Enugu State.
“What we are doing today is to train surveillance officers and risk communication officers to combat M-pox in Enugu State, we are working together with the ministry of health.
“We cannot do it alone, that is why we are partnering with the ministry of health to train 200 surveillance and risk communication officers to storm the state to ensure that M-pox is kicked out of the state,” he said.
