Nigeria saw 21 monkeypox cases since the beginning of 2022
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria has advised against the consumption of bushmeat, including rodents and other wild animals, as a precaution against monkey-pox, according to media reports.
The country has confirmed 21 cases of the infection in 2022, six of which were detected last month.
Mohammad Abubakar, minister of agriculture and rural development, called for the suspension of transport of wild animals and their products within and across the borders. Consumption, trade and keeping of non-human primates as pets must be discouraged, he added.
Nigeria has a thriving bushmeat business — both legal and illegal — with grasscutter (cane rat) and antelopes (bushbuck, red-flanked duiker, bay duiker, Maxwell’s duiker, black duiker, Ogilby’s duiker, yellow-backed duiker and dwarf antelope) as commonly eaten species, according to a report by WildAid, an international non-profit that works to reduce consumption of wildlife products.
The disease can also be transmitted by consuming meat of an infected animal, said experts.
“Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus,” said the World Health Organization (WHO) in a release May 2022. It added that infected rodents, including rats and squirrels, can spread the virus.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in the tropical rainforest areas of central and west Africa, and is occasionally exported to other regions, itadded.
Nigeria has seen sporadic cases since 2017, mainly in the southern parts, WHO noted. “But since 2020, it has spread to other parts as well.”
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