Mpox: Doctors warn Nigerians against consuming undercooked bush meat

The Association of Resident Doctors, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (ARD-UITH) has warned against the consumption of undercooked bush meat to avoid the deadly mpox virus.

The president of ARD-UITH, Yusuf Muhammed, told journalists on Monday in Ilorin that people should also avoid contact with dead animals as much as possible.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak of mpox in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern.

The ARD-UITH president explained that “mpox is not entirely new, but at some point, new strains commonly appear, and in recent times, WHO sent warnings that the strain that is currently detected is a new one.

“The fear is that the antibody that humans have may not be able to protect against it like the strain that occurred before. This poses a significant threat to people, and everybody should be on the lookout.”

Mr Muhammed described the disease as a viral disease related to the now-eradicated smallpox virus. He advised Nigerians not to panic but to report suspected cases to the nearest health agencies where proper investigation and contact tracing can be done.

He pointed out that the vaccine for smallpox was being shown to also work for mpox, asking, however, “to what extent it will work on the new strain?.”

Mr Muhammed assured that the association was ready to deploy all measures, responses and preparedness during the COVID-19 to fight any eventual outbreak in the country.

“For now, there are no clearly reported cases in Nigeria. As far as the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is concerned,

the WHO has alerted all nations to be on the lookout for possible outbreaks,” he said.

At least 450 people died during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the disease has since spread to areas of Central and East Africa, Pakistan and Sweden.

An infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and other animals, mpox is caused by the Orthopoxvirus Monkeypox, a zoonotic virus in the genus Orthopoxvirus.

Some of its symptoms are sore throat, itchy or painful rash, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and fatigue.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the disease can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex,

as well as through contaminated materials like bed sheets, clothing and needles.