NCDC LIED, NO CASE OF MONKEY POX IN OGUN STATE – COMMISSIONER

The Ogun State Government on Tuesday dismissed a report of cases of monkey pox in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Babatunde Ipaye, refuted the claim at a press conference in Abeokuta.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had on Monday declared that 31 suspected cases of monkey pox had so far been reported in seven states, including Ogun.

Ipaye, however, said no single case of monkey pox had been recorded in the state.

He blamed the development on the “unprofessional attitude of an overzealous official” of the state Ministry of Health who reported a case of monkey pox to the Federal Ministry of Health without due process and proper examination.

The commissioner said 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 monkey pox.

Ipaye said: “The distribution of the rashes on the patient’s skin is never suggestive of a monkey pox 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 monkey pox 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 of monkey pox.

“We have seen classically that the distribution of rashes in monkey pox 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.”

The commissioner gave an assurance that the state would continue to engage in public enlightenment as part of efforts to prevent outbreak of diseases in Ogun State.