The Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, has announced that the country has confirmed four new mpox cases. One case is from Sinoe, two from Montserrado, and one from Margibi County.
Dr. Nyan disclosed during a joint press conference along with the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Africa Center for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization that these cases are currently being managed and treated while urging the public to remain calm and adhere to all health precautionary measures to prevent further spread of the virus.
“All four patients are stable and receiving care at designated facilities,” he said.
According to him, from January 1, 2024, to May 11, 2025, the country had 652 suspected cases, of which 572 samples were tested in the lab and 78 were confirmed as mpox infections.
“Out of these 78 cases, we only have one active, so all 77 cases have recovered. So to this date, Liberia has only one active case and zero deaths,” he said.
The NPHIL’s director general’s update comes in the wake of growing panic and concerns after T. Kelvin Nimely, popularly known as Ambassador Jabateh the Kruman, a comedian, uploaded videos on his Facebook page confirming that he has been infected with the mpox disease.
In a telephone interview, Nimely, who works as a brand ambassador for Orange Liberia and is being quarantined and receiving treatment at the Star Base facility on Bushrod Island, said he contracted the disease while on tour for Orange Liberia in Lofa County. According to him, while performing on stage in Foya, Lofa County, a guy came looking sick with rashes and touched him.
“We both rubbed our sweat on each other while I was on stage,” he recalled. When asked if the guy who touched him showed any signs or symptoms of the virus, he said, “One hundred percent. He was even bad-off with a lot of sores. Bruises on his body, rashes on his face, but he said he was using the country herb to cure it,” Nimley said.
According to him, after the show, he and his team left and went to sleep in Voinjama on Saturday, May 10, 2025. He started feeling feverish and started taking medication. Upon his return to Monrovia, he visited three hospitals, including the St. Joseph Catholic Hospital, for typhoid, malaria, and infection treatment. He also self-medicated with antibiotics. But it only got worse with a sore throat, a severe headache, and pain in his neck. But there were no signs of improvement until someone told him that it was an mpox infection.
“The rashes extended to under my feet; this was how I got infected, and I did the video. I didn’t want other people to get affected,” he said. It was after the videos he uploaded that prompted the Ministry of Health and top officials, including the Minister of Health, to contact him and ask him to go to the Duport Health Center for a test.
“So I went there, they cut a part of my skin and took my specimen, they took blood, and then they ran the test. On the same Saturday, I came home. They called me, brought a counseling team to talk to me, and I cooperated with them. Right now, I am in quarantine.”
In a telephone interview, Maybel Mason, Orange Liberia Communications’ Manager, said the company is aware of Nimely’s illness. “All of the people that were with him on that trip got themselves checked as well and, fortunately and unfortunately, it is just him that is being infected by the mpox virus,” Mason said.
She added that the Ministry of Health has reached out to them, and they are willing to provide contacts of people who were on the trip. “So that if at any point in time they want to check them, they can go ahead and do so. But one thing I should state here is that we are concerned about his health and we are giving him all the support he requires at this time, and from time to time, I have been on the phone just so I can get regular updates.”
Liberia’s latest four confirmed cases come in the wake of a reported surge in cases in neighboring nation Sierra Leone, which shares a close border with Liberia. As of now, a total of 2045 cases have been confirmed in Freetown, according to the country’s National Public Health Agency. Sixty-five new cases confirmed, three hundred and ninety-three recovered, and eleven deaths.
Dr. Yuah A. Nemah, Director of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) at the Ministry of Health, disclosed that Liberia has received Mpox vaccines from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). These vaccines are part of the government’s response strategy to curb human-to-human transmission.
He said to date, over 2,000 individuals in Grand Cape Mount, Nimba, Grand Bassa, and Sinoe Counties have been vaccinated against Mpox. According to Dr. Yuah, the vaccine is administered under strict protocols, targeting two main groups.
All identified contacts of confirmed Mpox cases and high-risk individuals, including frontline health workers involved in surveillance, case management, contact tracing, and members of the security sector.
Dr. Yuah added that vaccine deployment, community engagement, and awareness campaigns are ongoing in Lofa, Montserrado, and Margibi Counties, with vaccination activities expected to commence in those areas soon.
