When the first cases of human monkeypox were identified in the DRC, Liberia and Sierre Leone in 1970, there were no detected cases in Nigeria, and surveillance of several non-human primates in Nigeria did not identify any monkeypox virus.[3] Two cases of monkeypox were first identified in Nigeria in 1971.[4] The first case was a four year old female, whose rash began on 9 April.[5]
2017 outbreak
In 2017, monkeypox reemerged in humans in Nigeria after 39-years.[1][6]
The first exportations of monkeypox out of Africa via affected humans occurred in September 2018, when three unrelated affected people from Nigeria travelled to the UK and Israel.[7]
In 2021, cases of monkeypox were reported in Delta, Lagos, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Federal Capital Territory, Niger, and Ogun.[8]