The Ogun state government has shut down a report of cases of monkeypox in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Babatunde Ipaye, dismissed the claim at a press conference which held in Abeokuta on Tuesday. On Monday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) declared that 31 suspected cases of monkeypox had so far been reported in seven states, including Ogun.
Ipaye, however, denied the report and blamed the development on the “unprofessional attitude of an overzealous official” of the state Ministry of Health who reported a case of monkeypox to the Federal Ministry of Health without due process and proper examination.
According to the commissioner, the officer from the state hospital, Ijebu Ode, had noticed skin lesion on a patient, adding that this was not suggestive of a case of monkeypox.
“The distribution of the rashes on the patient’s skin is never suggestive of a monkeypox and no due process was completed before the case was reported.
“We are not averse to reporting any genuine case of monkey pox but we must also be careful not to create unnecessary fear among the people. “It is very surprising to me as the state Commissioner for Health and the Chief Epidemiologist of the state to see Ogun among the listed states.
“We have not recorded any confirmed case of monkeypox in the state; Ogun doesn’t have a single case.
“Yes, there was an overzealous officer of the ministry who saw somebody with skin lesion in state hospital, Ijebu-Ode, and unfortunately called the Federal Ministry of Health and reported it as a suspected case.
“Any patient in such situation cannot be considered as a suspected case because the patient has another primary problem that can give rise to skin lesion, which is not a suspected case.
“We have seen classically that the distribution of rashes in monkeypox tend to be more on the face and symbolically at the palm and the sole of the feet.
“This patient does not have any of such and when we did a secondary screening, we discovered that there is even a primary reason why the patient had the rash,” he said.
The commissioner also gave an assurance that the state would continue to enlighten the public in other prevent the outbreak of diseases in Ogun state.
