Felicia Asuquo, Abuja
As part of efforts to mitigate the spread of Mpox, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated 10,000 Jynneous vaccines to Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday at the official handover, the Director General of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NHPCDA) Dr Muyi Aina, said the distribution of the vaccine will commence immediately and priority will be given to states with the highest cases and frontline workers.
He thanked the US government for the support and pledged to the judicious use of the vaccines which he said will help save lives and curb the spread of monkey pox across Nigeria.
Investigator news reports that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded a total of 39 confirmed cases and zero deaths from Mpox across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Director General of the NCDC, Jide Idris, made the revelation at a press briefing on the declaration of mpox as a public health emergency of international concern earlier in the month.
He said the NCDC is intensifying surveillance across Nigeria to swiftly detect and respond to new cases.
According to Idris, the NCDC all port health services across all five international airports, 10 seaports, and 51 land/foot crossing borders are on high alert.
He added that some states have also been put on high alert including Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Rivers, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom, Adamawa, Taraba, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.