Monkeypox is usually self-limiting but may be severe in some individuals, such as children, pregnant women or persons with immune suppression due to other health conditions, says the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday, reports UNB.
Eating inadequately cooked meat and other animal products of infected animals is a possible risk factor, according to the WHO which is dedicated to the well-being of all people and guided by science.
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding. The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days.
As of now, 92 laboratory confirmed cases, and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox with investigations ongoing, have been reported to the WHO from 12 Member States that are not endemic for monkeypox virus.
Monkeypox endemic countries are Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana (identified in animals only), Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan.
The government has instructed the authorities concerned to strengthen surveillance and screening of people coming to Bangladesh from countries with confirmed Monekypox cases through the land ports and airports.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued a notice in this regard on Sunday.
According to the notice, Monkeypox is not a new disease. It was found among people in West and Middle African countries in the past. Recently it has been detected among people living in European and American countries with no history of travelling in the African countries.
People who contracted the virus or came close to the infected people should be listed as suspected patients of Monkeypox, it said.
The suspected patients or patients having symptoms should be taken to government hospitals or Infectious Diseases Hospital and kept in isolation and it should be reported to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
Since 13 May 2022, cases of monkeypox have been reported to WHO from 12 Member States that are not endemic for monkeypox virus, across three WHO regions.
Epidemiological investigations are ongoing, however, reported cases thus far have no established travel links to endemic areas.
The situation is evolving and WHO expects there will be more cases of monkeypox identified as surveillance expands in non-endemic countries.
Reported cases thus far have no established travel links to an endemic area, said the WHO on Sunday.
Based on currently available information, cases have mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics.
To date, all cases whose samples were confirmed by PCR have been identified as being infected with the West African clade.
Genome sequence from a swab sample from a confirmed case in Portugal, indicated a close match of the monkeypox virus causing the current outbreak, to exported cases from Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019.
The identification of confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox with no direct travel links to an endemic area represents a highly unusual event.
Surveillance to date in non-endemic areas has been limited, but is now expanding.
WHO expects that more cases in non-endemic areas are likely to be reported. Available information suggests that human-to-human transmission is occurring among people in close physical contact with cases who are symptomatic.
In addition to this new outbreak, WHO continues to receive updates on the status of ongoing reports of monkeypox cases through established surveillance mechanisms (Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response) for cases in endemic countries [1], as summarized in table 2.
