To guide against the outbreak of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) recently discovered in China, the federal government has strengthened surveillance at major international airports in Nigeria.
The Minister of Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, had directed port health officers to begin to check arriving passengers for any symptom of the virus.
Reports revealed that the screening has commenced at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
It would be recalled that during the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, Nigeria recorded its first confirmed case which was a 44-year-old Italian Citizen who had arrived in MMIA at about 10 pm on February 24, 2020, via a Turkish airline from Milan Italy.
The virus was, as of yesterday, said to have spread to India, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Kazakhstan. Over 5,000 people were recently reported hospitalised in the United Kingdom as a result of the virus.
The first case of HMPV was reported over the weekend and it is said to be rising.
Reports say the spike in cases coincides with colder weather and increased indoor activity, conditions that typically fuel the spread of respiratory viruses with experts saying the surge is consistent with seasonal trends.
Cases were also said to be surging in the UK as the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) weekly National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report found that rates of HMPV have increased slightly to 4.5 per cent, according to the UK Independent.
The highest positive rate was among those five-years-old and younger at 10 per cent, the report said.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in its advisory issued yesterday, and signed by its Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, said it was closely monitoring global developments in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The agency said that the rumor circulating about the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring HMPV a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is false and should be disregarded.