The World Health Organisation has declared Nigeria's mpox outbreak officially contained after the country recorded zero new cases for two consecutive weeks, ending an eight-month epidemic that infected 2,847 people and claimed 31 lives across eight states.

Health authorities credited the containment to an aggressive contact tracing programme supported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and a vaccination campaign that administered 280,000 doses of the Bavarian Nordic JYNNEOS vaccine to at-risk populations.

Lessons learned

NCDC Director-General Dr. Jide Idris said the response demonstrated that Nigeria's epidemic preparedness infrastructure — heavily tested during COVID-19 — had matured significantly. "We detected the outbreak faster, responded faster, and contained it faster than any previous mpox episode in this country," he said.

The outbreak was concentrated in Lagos (1,204 cases), Rivers (487 cases) and Ogun (312 cases) states, with healthcare workers accounting for 8% of infections. A vaccination priority system for health workers was introduced after the first month and credited with reducing occupational transmission.

Ongoing surveillance

WHO has recommended that Nigeria maintain enhanced surveillance for a minimum of 60 days before formally lifting the outbreak declaration. Cross-border monitoring with Cameroon, Benin and Niger has been strengthened following cases in those countries that may represent spillover from Nigeria's epidemic.