The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has warned that Monkeypox, a disease endemic to West and Central African countries, can be transmitted through sexual intercourse.
This is as a medical virologist and immunologist noted that the disease is deadlier in patients suffering from other diseases.
The NCDC gave the warning in a post on its website, explaining that sexual intercourse happens to be a mode of transmission.
The disease has recently surfaced in some European countries, with 66 suspected cases reported so far in Nigeria in 2022.
The NCDC noted that of the 66, no fewer than 21 cases had been confirmed but countries such as the United Kingdom, the US, Portugal, Spain, Israel, Lebanon and Canada among others have reported cases.
The post read, “Symptoms of the illness include fever, headache, body aches, weakness, swollen lymph nodes (glands) and a rash. After about 1 to 3 days of fever, the rash erupts, beginning on the face and then spreading to the body with the face and palms/soles being mostly affected.
“They can also occur in and around the genitals which is why contact during sex is one mode of transmission. It is mostly a self-limiting illness that often lasts for two to four weeks.”Speaking in an interview with The PUNCH, a Professor of Medical Virology, University of Maiduguri, Prof Marycelin Baba, said the disease could be transmitted through skin contact.
“There is a risk of human to human transmission. If you have someone around you who has the infection, it is very easy for you to get infected and sex cannot be ruled out because there is contact,” Baba said.
