BAYELSA: Quarantined monkeypox patient commits suicide, govt says

One of the quarantined patients of the monkeypox virus has committed suicide, the Bayelsa State government revealed Monday.

The victim reportedly took his own life on Monday at the quarantine centre in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, located in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

Addressing journalists Monday evening in Yenagoa, the state capital, the Commissioner for Health, Ebitimitula Etebu, stated that the deceased was among the 21 suspected cases of the virus that were being managed at the teaching hospital.

Etebu was joined at the conference by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the Chief Medical Director of the NDUTH, Dimie Ogoina, and other senior health officials.

He expressed sadness that the patient took his own life, saying the deceased’s medical history did not suggest any mental illness or signs of depression.

Etebu insisted that the patient did not die from the disease, adding that the police and his family had been duly informed and all necessary procedures were being followed to ensure the safe burial of the victim.

Read also: Only 3 of 13 patients from Bayelsa are confirmed monkeypox cases, Health Minister says

The health commissioner said that a committee had been set up to evaluate the deceased’s medical and social history in order to discover more information on the tragedy.

Also, he formally confirmed the outbreak of monkeypox in the state following laboratory evidence from samples sent to the World Health Organisation in Dakar, Senegal.

Etebu assured the general that “the government was doing everything to contain the outbreak”.
Speaking, Iworiso-Markson urged residents to continue to take precautionary measures and ensure they avoided bush meat.

 

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