Monkey Pox Spreads to 11 States with 74 Suspected Cases

•  FG absolves military of administering vaccines with virus
• Tension in Kwara, Akwa Ibom over vaccines

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja, Hammed Shittu in Ilorin and Okon Bassey in Uyo

The federal government yesterday disclosed that cases of monkey pox virus which broke out in Bayelsa State a fortnight ago has spread to 11 states in the country with 74 suspected cases being examined.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, who disclosed this to journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House, Abuja without stating in concrete terms what the government is doing to treat or tame the disease, said laboratory test conducted in Lagos showed that four cases tested negative.
He listed the 11 states ravaged by the disease as Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa and Rivers.

Adewale also said 12 of the suspected cases in Bayelsa State tested negative while three of them tested positive, adding that further tests are ongoing to identify the true nature of the disease.

“We received an update from the public health of the nation. We informed council about the latest development with respect to the monkey pox virus outbreak. So far, as of today, (yesterday), there are 74 suspected cases in 11 states of the country. We have confirmed three in Bayelsa State, and 12 of the Bayelsa suspected cases tested negative, four suspected cases from Lagos tested negative. We are still expecting the results of other ones,” he said.

Adewole also dispelled the insinuation making the rounds that the military was carrying out vaccination in some states of the federation and consequently spreading monkey pox in such areas.
According to him, the military is not involved in any vaccination exercise, explaining that the federal government cannot carry out any vaccination exercise without collaborating with state governments.
He said the federal government was only carrying out vaccination campaigns in Kwara and Kogi States on Yellow Fever and Cholera diseases in Borno State.

The minister also said the government was planning to conduct a vaccination exercise on measles.
“We are also doing advance test in Ede, the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics and Infectious Disease, to really understand the genomics of this virus. Even when they are negative, the laboratory attendance should be able to tell us what exactly they are. We will also be able to locate and identify the origin so that we can take adequate precaution.

“It is also important to use this opportunity to dispel the rumour circulating in the country that the military is vaccinating people and trying to spread monkey pox across the country. The military is not involved in any vaccination exercise and I must also really educate the Nigerian people about how vaccination campaigns are done. “Federal government will take the lead but we do not conduct campaign without working with states. So, there is no way we will do campaign for states without working with the states and it is the states that will be in front and we will provide support. The rumour that federal government is doing vaccination campaign is not true. And as of today, we are only doing vaccination campaign in three states.

“We are doing vaccination campaign against yellow Fever in Kwara and Kogi States because of the outbreak in some parts of the country. We are also doing cholera vaccination in Borno State and so, anybody carrying the rumour, please help us educate Nigerians that it is not true.

“We are not vaccinating anybody. We plan to do measles campaign very soon and we will also do Yellow Fever campaign before the end of the year and we will let you know.

“You will never find federal staff conducting vaccination campaign without the support and active participation of the state Ministry of Health. This is just to correct the misconception,” he said.
The minister further warned Nigerians to be cautious about the ongoing illegal harvests of some organs of the body, notably the kidney by traffickers as he advised them to seek proper advice and patronise accredited institutions when necessary.

He emphasised that whereas the military is always involved in health campaigns as a number of soldiers are medical doctors, such campaigns do not include vaccination as erroneously conceived.
In his own briefing, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said FEC approved N280 million for the completion of an irrigation project started since 1997.

Meanwhile, palpable tension yesterday enveloped the ancient town of Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State and Akwa Ibmo State as parents and guardians stormed schools in their hundreds to withdraw their wards over rumour of alleged killer vaccines in the area.

In Omu-Aran, parents had besieged both private and public schools in the area as early 9a.m. as the rummour of the presence of the said vaccine injection team allegedly accompanied by soldiers in the town spreads like wild fire.
Some of the parents, mostly traders, commercial motorcyclists had to abandon their businesses in a bid to withdraw their wards from schools to prevent them from being injected with the alleged vaccines.

But the state Ministry of Health in a statement clarified that the ongoing Reactive Vaccination in the local government area and other neighbouring communities, was to prevent the spread of yellow fever.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Suleiman Atolagbe Alege, explained that the vaccination exercise has no connection with the Nigerian Army and is not dangerous to children’s health as it has been rumoured by certain individuals.

In Akwa Ibom State, distressed calls by parents and students around schools across the state reportedly generated pandemonium which caused children to flee from school to their houses while some ran into the bush to hide in other to escape the alleged vaccination.
It was gathered that while police vehicles were seen visiting the schools, plain-cloth detectives were also seen going from school to school to interrogate the school-heads because of the development.
But the state Commissioner for Education, Mr. Paul Udofia, the police and army, all condemned the rumours saying they were calculated to cause confusion in the state.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bala Elkana and his colleague of the Nigerian Army, Headquarters 2 Brigade, Uyo , Major Umar Shuib, said the romour was misleading.

The PPRO said since the news got to them during the school period police patrol teams were dispatched to the schools to authenticate the truth and source of information.

He said: “It’s a mere rumour which unfortunately led to closure of some schools quite early today (Wednesday)
“Our officers have been on surveillance since morning, they have been going round schools but no one is really able to trace where the information originated from and which school was affected. The rumour came in from Anambra where such was reported to have occurred.”

The Nigerian Army, Headquarters 2 Brigade, Uyo in their reaction said “The attention of Headquarters 2 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to some rumours making the rounds that some army personnel are going round schools in Akwa Ibom State dressed in military camouflage uniforms with the intention of forcefully vaccinating students with an unknown substance.

“The callous and unpatriotic rumours spread by these enemies of state are, to say the least, despicable, deplorable and highly condemnable as they are intended to cause pandemonium among the general public.

“The authorities of 2 Brigade Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public that the Brigade is currently involved in Operation Crocodile Smile II, which is yielding tremendous successes especially in curbing the excesses and activities of criminals, cultists and other miscreants in Akwa Ibom State.

“For emphasis therefore, the 2 Brigade Nigerian Army does not and will never carry out its medical outreaches or vaccination exercises for that matter in schools.

“We therefore wish to inform the public that the on-going rumours about army personnel in military camouflage going round schools in any part of Akwa Ibom State to forcefully immunise school children is false and should therefore be disregarded,” he posited