Adedokun Waliyu 
Nigeria has the highest death toll and confirmed cases of monkeypox in Africa, the World Health Organisation said.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, disclosed this on Thursday during a virtual press briefing tagged, ‘Road to defeating Meningitis by 2030.’
Nigeria, according to her, recorded half of the fatalities linked to the disease, with others reported in Ghana and in the Central African Republic.
“For monkeypox, there have now been 524 confirmed cases and 12 deaths across 11 African countries,” WHO Regional Office for Africa quoted Moeti as saying on its verified Twitter handle. “The majority of cases are in Nigeria, DRC & Ghana. Of the 12 deaths, six occurred in Nigeria, four in Ghana, and two in the Central African Republic.”
“Although no single monkeypox vaccine has been administered to any high-risk group in any of the African countries reporting cases, WHO has provided 39,000 test kits to countries, enabling improved testing rates,” another tweet read.
Meanwhile, checks by Channels Television on Friday show that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has yet to update the data on its official website.
According to the last situation report on monkeypox dated August 14 and published by the NCDC, Nigeria had four deaths linked to the disease at the time.
In the report, it said the four deaths were recorded in four states while 29 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reported 530 suspected cases of monkeypox in 32 weeks.
“From 1st January to 14th August 2022, Nigeria has recorded 530 suspected cases with 220 confirmed cases (144 male, 76 female) from 29 states – Lagos (35), Ondo (18), Rivers (16), Bayelsa (14), Adamawa (13), Delta (12), Edo (12), FCT (10), Abia (nine), Nasarawa (nine), Anambra (eight), Imo (eight), Ogun (seven), Plateau (six), Taraba (five), Kwara (five), Kano (five), Gombe (four), Cross River (four), Oyo (four), Borno (three), Benue (three), Katsina (three), Kogi (two), Niger (one), Bauchi (one), Akwa Ibom (one), Ebonyi (one) and Osun (one),” the NCDC said.
“Four associated deaths were recorded from four states in 2022 – Delta (one), Lagos (one), Ondo (one), and Akwa Ibom (one).”
