Femi
Makinde, Friday Olokor, Bukola Adebayo and Ovie Okpare
The Director
of African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, at the
Redeemer’s University in Ede, Osun State, Prof. Christian Happi, said on
Wednesday that the Federal Government had commissioned the centre to carry out
analysis on the monkeypox virus, which has spread to seven states.
Happi, who
spoke at the university on Wednesday, also confirmed that the result of the
samples sent to the centre would be out on Friday.
He said, “We
were commissioned to do the test by the Federal Government and the National
Centre for Disease Control is collaborating with us. The Minister of Health,
Prof. Isaac Adewole, calls me every day to ensure that the analysis is being
done.
“We are
hoping that by Friday, we should have the report which we will send to the
ministry and then they will be able to make an announcement. We are providing
the primary result and the laboratory in Senegal will provide the second
opinion.”
Happi noted
that scientists at the ACEGID had been sent to forests to find the pathogens
causing the infectious diseases.
The Director
General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Prof. Babatunde Salako,
said monkeypox is a rare disease and very few cases had been recorded in Nigeria;
hence the need to send samples to countries and laboratories that were already
familiar with the disease.
Salako, who
spoke at the institute in Lagos on Wednesday, said, “It is a disease that
rarely occurs in Nigeria. If samples are collected and taken to a laboratory
that is not familiar with it, they will have to start analysing and gathering
some facts about the virus and because of the nature of the disease, time is
very important.
“It is
better to send samples to a centre where they have the expertise and where more
work has been done on it.”
The
Laboratory Director, Centre for Human Virology and Genomics, NIMR, Dr. Rosemary
Audu, urged doctors and health workers to wear protective garments when handing
such cases to prevent infection.
Audu said,
“A doctor has been infected now with monkeypox. Let us not forget that a doctor
and a nurse died during the last Lassa fever outbreak. It was the same
situation during the Ebola outbreak. We, the experts and stakeholders in the
sector need to go back to the drawing board and draw up new protocols on
infectious diseases.”
Fear gripped
residents of Asaba and its neighbouring communities in Delta State on Wednesday
as parents stormed public primary and secondary schools to withdraw their
children and wards following rumour that some men were invading schools to
vaccinate pupils against monkeypox.
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