Headlines
Portugal Finds 5 Monkeypox Cases in Men as Outbreak Spreads
By Derrick Bangura
Portuguese health authorities on Wednesday confirmed five cases of monkeypox in young men, and Britain announced two more new cases, marking an unusual outbreak in Europe of a disease typically limited to Africa.
Portugal’s General Directorate for Health said that it was also investigating 15 suspected cases and that all were identified this month in the area around the capital, Lisbon.
All the Portuguese cases involve men, most of them young, authorities said. They have skin lesions and were reported to be in stable condition.
Authorities did not say if the men had a history of travel to Africa or any links with recent cases in Britain or elsewhere.
British health authorities said Wednesday they had identified two new cases of monkeypox, one in London and another in southeast England.
They said neither case had previously travelled to Africa and that it was possible they were infected in the UK. The cases had no known links to other previously confirmed patients, suggesting there may be multiple chains of monkeypox transmission already happening in the country.
Dr. Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of Britain’s Health Security Agency said the latest cases, alongside the other infections reported in Europe, “confirms our initial concerns that there could be spread of monkeypox within our communities.”
The agency said recent cases had been seen “predominantly in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men,” although it noted it was unclear how exactly people had been infected.
Monkeypox has not previously been documented to have spread through sex, but can be transmitted through close contact with infected people, their clothing or bedsheets.
Earlier this week the UK agency reported four cases of monkeypox they said had been spread among gay and bisexual men in London. The agency said the risk to the general population “remains low.”
Health authorities in Spain’s central Madrid region said late on Wednesday that they were assessing 23 possible cases of monkeypox. They noted that all of the suspected cases are young men and that the majority of them had sex with other men.
The disease belongs to a family of viruses that includes smallpox. Most people recover from monkeypox within weeks, but the WHO said that the disease is fatal for up to one in ten people.
Sporadic cases of monkeypox have been seen previously in countries including Britain and the US, but nearly all have been in people who were likely infected during their travels in Africa.
Dr. Ibrahim Soce Fall, the World Health Organisation’s assistant director-general for emergency response, said the spread of monkeypox in the UK needed to be investigated to understand how the disease was being transmitted among men who have sex with other men.
Fall said that health officials still need a better understanding of how monkeypox spreads in general, even in the countries where it is endemic.
He noted that while there were more than 6,000 reported cases in Congo and about 3000 cases in Nigeria last year, there are still “so many unknowns in terms of the dynamics of transmission.”
Britain previously reported three earlier cases of monkeypox, two involving people who lived in the same household and the third someone who had travelled to Nigeria, where the disease occurs frequently in animals.
The virus has typically spread to people from infected animals like rodents, although human-to-human transmission has been known to occur.
Some British experts said it was too soon to conclude that monkeypox had spread through sexual contact, although the outbreak there suggested that possibility.
“The recent cases suggest a potentially novel means of spread,” Neil Mabbott, a disease expert at the University of Edinburgh, said, adding that related viruses were known to spread via sex.
Keith Neal, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Nottingham, said the transmission might not have occurred through sexual activity but just “the close contact associated with sexual intercourse.”
Monkeypox typically causes fever, chills, a rash and lesions on the face or genitals resembling those caused by smallpox. A vaccine developed against smallpox has been approved for monkeypox, and several anti-virals also appear to be effective.
The Kaduna State Water Services Regulatory Commission (KADWREC) says it is partnering media practitioners towards revamping water services in the state.
Mr Dogara Bashir, the Executive Chairman of KADWREC, disclosed this on Monday at a one-day workshop organised for media practitioners on regulation of ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene’ (WASH) activities held in Kaduna.
Bashir said the commission was aware of the importance of the role media practitioners played in the society.
He stated that the workshop was to provide an avenue to liaise with them as important stakeholders on water supply and sanitation services in the state.
Bashir said: “As media practitioners, we believe you are a gateway to the citizens so, the workshop would acquaint you with some of the regulations already in place so that you can in turn transmit it to the public
“The state of water services in Kaduna State is in dire need of attention and the State Water Corporation and KADWREC were established towards addressing the seeming challenges.
“The commission is mandated to ensure better service delivery and regulation of water and sanitation services in the State.
“The idea is that once the regulations are developed, we send them to the State Ministry of Justice to gazette and then we get the state government to endorse and give the go ahead to commence the implementation of the regulations
“We intend to implement them fully come January, 2025 God willing, as we have embarked on advocacy activities having gone to zones 1 and 2 where we talked to traditional rulers, security agencies and the Judiciary.”
He disclosed that a special Court has already been attached to the commission by the Chief Judge of the State for service providers who may likely violate regulations.
The chairman further said that amongst the commission’s objectives include ensuring security, reliability and quality of service in the production and delivery of water to the consumers as well making regulations to control the sinking of boreholes.
Others included; maximising access to water services by promoting and facilitating consumer connections to distribution systems in urban and rural areas.
According to Bashir, they also include ensuring that regulatory decision-making has regards to all the relevant health, safety, environmental and social legislation applying to the water sector.
Bashir further said that the commission collaborate with the relevant state and federal agencies on water policies.
The police in Lagos have dragged two women, Mmesuma Ofunna, and Blessing Adimekwe, before an Ojo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, over alleged obtaining money by false pretence.
Ofunna, 22, and Adimekwe, 25, were arraigned before the Magistrate, Mr L K J Layeni, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, stealing and conduct likely to breach peace.
They each, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecutor, ASP Simon Uche, told the court that the defendants conspired with others now at large, to commit the offence on Oct. 26 at the Okokomaiko area of Ojo.
He alleged that they had obtained the sum of N70, 000 from one Faith Ahamefule, with a promise not to post her nude photo on social media.
The prosecutor alleged that the defendants later posted the nude photo of the nominal complainant on social media, knowing that their promise was false.
He alleged that they stole the N70, 0000, thereby conducting themselves in a manner likely to breach public peace.
The offence contravenes the provisions of sections 168(d), 287, 314, and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
The court granted the defendants bails in the sum of N500, 000 each, with two sureties each in like sum.
He adjourned the case until Jan. 8, 2025 for mention.
A Jos Magistrates’ Court on Monday, sentenced a 37-year-old driver, Ahmad Umar to six months in imprisonment for attempting to steal a car.
The Magistrate, Shawomi Bokkos, summarily tried and sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
Bokkos in his judgment, ordered the convict to pay an option of N30, 000 fine or spend six months in prison.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp Ibrahim Gokwat, told the court that the case was reported on Oct. 10, at the Area Command Police station through a distress call by one Sydney Peacemorie the complainant.
Gokwat said the complainant parked his Toyota RAV4 in front of Access Bank and went inside to carry out some transactions, only to return to find the convict inside his car.
“The convict unlawfully opened the car and was in the driver’s seat when the complainant raised alarm and he was apprehended, but his accomplice escaped.
“The convict was severely beaten by a mob but was rescued by the police,” said Gokwat.
“The prosecutor said that the offence contravened the Plateau Penal Code Law.
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