Monkey Pox: No confirmed case yet in FCT, says health secretary

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Secretary for Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS), Barrister Amanda Pam has said that none of the seven suspected monkey pox cases in the territory has been confirmed.

Pam therefore said there cannot be monkey pox epidemic as being reported in some quarters in the city. She wondered what gave rise to the rumour. According to her, blood samples collected from six of the cases were sent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) reference laboratory in Senegal for confirmation after preliminary investigation from FCT laboratory in Gaduwa.

To allay the fears of FCT residents, she said the FCT Administration has a very active and well-articulated public health institutional framework running from the primary to the tertiary healthcare levels, from the wards, Area Councils to the FCT.