Information obtained from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Sunday night has revealed how human beings can get infected with monkeypox.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the disease control agency in a monkeypox situation report released on Sunday night stated that 66 suspected cases of the disease were discovered in Nigeria between January 1, 2022 and May 29, 2022.
Though 21 were fully confirmed, the agency noted that one death was reported.
Monkeypox, according to the NCDC is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease (i.e.,an infection transmitted from animals to humans) that is endemic in areas in and near tropical rainforests in Central and West Africa.
“ It is caused by the Monkeypox virus which belongs to the same Orthopoxvirus genus and Poxviridae family of viruses as the Variola virus (Smallpox virus), the Vaccinia virus (used in smallpox vaccine for eradication programme), and the cowpox virus (used in earlier generations of smallpox vaccines) and some other viruses.
Following the public health advisory released by the NCDC, The PUNCH highlights how humans can get infected with monkeypox.
-The virus can spread both from animal to human (which is the first (spill-over) event preceding the detection of cases in humans), and from human to human.
