Following the spread of Mpox, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated 10,000 Jynneous vaccines to Nigeria.
This was made known during the official handover of the vaccine on Tuesday, August 26.
Speaking to correspondents at the event, the Director General of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NHPCDA) Dr Muyi Aina, said the vaccine will be distributed immediately starting from states with highest number of cases.
Aina thanked the US government for the support.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), a total of 39 confirmed cases and zero deaths has been recorded across 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
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.
WHO recently declared the mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency, worried by the rise in cases in DRC and the spread to nearby countries.
The WHO called a meeting of experts to study the outbreak and make a recommendation to Dr Ghebreyesus.
“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” Tedros told a press conference.
“This is something that should concern us all. WHO is committed in the days and weeks ahead to coordinate the global response, working closely with each of the affected countries, and leveraging our on-the-ground presence, to prevent transmission, treat those infected, and save lives.”
