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Adetutu Sobowale
Ogun State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, on Monday, said the government is fully prepared to stop the outbreak of Monkeypox across the state.
Dr. Coker emphasized that measures have been put in place to prevent the outbreak of the disease as the number of reported cases increased in the country.
The commissioner said that the ministry had increased its surveillance, adding that preventive measure with healthcare personnel are readily available.
Dr. Coker said, “We, locally are prepared to prevent the outbreak. We have our isolation in Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital. It’s perpetually opened.
“We have Protocol on Guideline Management. We have Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers, DSNO, in all 20 healthcare centers.
“We have over 60 of them that are scattered all over the state. So, they know what to look out for and we’ve sensitized our health workers on what the symptoms look like and if they should see anyone, they will escalate it to the DSNO in their local governments.
“We also have Community Informants that are in the community there, so that, if there is anything suspicious in their communities, they will escalate it to the DSNO who will then investigate it.
“We have the treatment pre-positioned. We take the sample and send it to the designated laboratory. And when it’s positive there is a protocol of treatment that will follow. It’s a national protocol.
“So, it’s not as complicated as it looks. The only reason it’s making the news now is that the number has suddenly increased but if you look at the action number, it’s not massive.
“And that is what public health is all about. When there is a disease that was not previously, since it started to show up, you start to study it.”
The Commissioner however, debunked the report by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control that three MonkeyPox cases have been detected in the state, noting that the cases have been tested negative.
Recall that the Nigeria Center for Disease Center in its latest report said three Monkeypox cases have been confirmed in Ogun state.
It said, “There were 31 new suspected cases reported in Epi week 23, 2022 (June 6 to 12, 2022) from 13 states – Lagos (5), Katsina (4), Ondo (4), Bayelsa (4), Nasarawa (3), Ogun (3), Oyo (2), Akwa Ibom (1) Delta (1), Edo (1), Kaduna (1), Kano (1), and Imo (1).
Reacting to the report, Coker disclosed that the ministry has investigated the three reported cases and were negative.
She added that most times people mistake measles symptoms for that of MonkeyPox, saying, they are similar physically.
She said, ” We’ve been aware for over four weeks now. And we’ve increased our surveillance and we have our preparedness to pick provision drugs in case we pick up any case.
“So, all the cases that have been suspected have been negative.
“So, the three suspected cases have all been proven not to be monkeypox because it’s also similar to Measles and some other diseases with its symptoms. So, you have to suspect it and rule it out.”
The Commissioner advised the residents to be vigilant and present themselves when they notice any the symptoms of the disease.
“People should vigilant. If there is an eruption on the body, they must present themselves to the nearest health center. And we’ll take over from there. They should not stay at home and try and manage it with herbs. Herb cannot treat this.
“They need to let us know so that we can counter-trace the people they’ve been in contact with soon enough so that there won’t be a spread. If there is a case and we move in to contain and curtail it soon enough, it won’t spread to the rest of the state.
“So, we have to be responsible for ourselves and our neighbours”,she added.
