Bayelsa denies new cases of Monkey pox

-No new cases of monkey pox recorded in Bayelsa state even as most quarantined cases have now been discharged.

-The government is however, promoting public awareness and campaigns.

Government is winning the war against monkey pox in Bayelsa state.

The Bayelsa state commissioner for health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu on Monday described as false, rumours claiming that two new cases of the monkey pox disease have been detected in the state.

According to Etebu, blood samples sent for confirmatory tests at the World Health Organisation reference laboratory in Dakar returned in batches.

“The additional two positive results, though not a new outbreak, will break the total recorded cases in the state to five.

” WHO in September confirmed three cases of monkey pox disease in Bayelsa,” he said.

The commissioner disclosed that most of the 21 patients isolated at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, Yenagoa, where the first case was reported, had fully recovered and discharged.

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He also stated the government of Bayelsa has been unrelenting in creating public awareness on how to avoid contacting the Monkey pox virus.

On the current number of patients under surveillance at the quarantine centre, Etebu said: “I can tell you that many of the patients being monitored and given care at the isolation centre have been discharged.

“But the situation is dynamic and the number keeps changing; I have not looked at the data for yesterday and may not give you information that is accurate,” he said.