Prof. Akoria Obehi, the Edo State Commissioner for Health, revealed on Monday that eight people have tested positive for monkeypox in the state thus far.
However, according to Prof. Obehi, who revealed this to journalists in Benin, everyone who was diagnosed with the illness has recovered.
“Amid the rise in the number of confirmed cases of Monkeypox in Edo, it has become imperative to warn on the health risks that the virus poses and reiterate the need for residents to be cautious and adhere to safety measures.”
She included fever, headache, generalised weakness, sore throat, and swelling of glands in the neck and under the jaw as signs of monkeypox.
“It can also come with the appearance of a rash on the face, palms, soles of the feet, genitals, and other parts of the body, which can appear solid or fluid-filled at the onset and can manifest within a period of two to three weeks following infection, depending on the health status of the individual.”
She encouraged people to stay away from non-human primates, tiny mammals, and other wild animals, such as rats and squirrels, whether they were alive or dead (monkeys, apes).
She continued by advising people to properly boil all animal-meat-containing foods before consuming them, avoid direct contact with infected persons and animals, wash their hands frequently, and use hand sanitiser when water is not available.
Recall, last week, the global monkeypox outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation, WHO.
Monkeypox has been endemic in West and Central Africa for decades, but cases have been linked to animal spillover rather than human-to-human transmission. In previous outbreaks outside of African countries, such as the one in the United States in 2003, cases were linked to contact with infected animals or travel to endemic areas.
While it is still unknown how monkeypox entered humans in the current outbreak, the virus has spread through close, intimate contact; a deviation from previous outbreaks.