First monkeypox death in Nigeria in 2022, 21 cases confirmed

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) – Nigeria has recorded its first death from monkeypox in 2022 in a patient with “underlying co-morbidity and was on immunosuppressive medications..” The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention made the announcement late Sunday. The agency said 21 cases have been confirmed of the disease, which is usually endemic in Nigeria and other parts of West and Central Africa. Nigeria has not had an outbreak of monkeypox since September 2017 but it continues to report sporadic cases. The head of the disease control agency says Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is prepared to respond to an outbreak of the monkeypox.