Monkeypox - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

SA confirms 3rd monkeypox case in tourist from Switzerland

SOUTH Africa has confirmed a third case of monkeypox, in a 42-year-old male tourist from Switzerland, the health department of the Limpopo province said. The tourist, who is holidaying in South Africa, presented with symptoms including a rash, muscle ache and fatigue. His infection was confirmed as monkeypox by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases. "Three contacts have already been identified and none of them have developed signs thus far," Limpopo health official Phophi Ramathuba said in a statement. Earlier South Africa reported two monkeypox cases not linked to travel. Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Monkeypox on course to be new global health emergency

HEALTH

MORE than 6,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported from 58 countries in the current outbreak, the World Health Organization said. The U.N. agency will reconvene a meeting of the committee that will advise on declaring the outbreak a global health emergency, the WHO's highest level of alert, in the week beginning July 18 or sooner, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference from Geneva. At its previous meeting on June 27, the committee decided that the outbreak, which has seen cases rising both in the African countries where it usually spreads and globally, was not yet…

Jul

2022

By BHARGAV ACHARYA and NELLIE PEYTON

Africa in need of test kits, vaccines as monkeypox spreads

HEALTH

BHARGAV ACHARYA and NELLIE PEYTON AFRICA has no vaccines for monkeypox and test kits are in short supply, international health agencies said, warning that richer countries already appeared to be hoarding vaccines. Monkeypox is a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions. It is endemic in parts of Africa but has also recently been reported in countries with no history of human transmission, including Ghana, Morocco and South Africa. "The geographic spread of monkeypox to parts of Africa where cases have never been detected before is a worrying sign," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO)…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Monkeypox in Nigeria: why the disease needs intense management

HEALTH

MONKEYPOX is back in the news. The publicity this time derives from a case brought into the US by someone from Nigeria in June 2021. In this interview with Adejuwon Soyinka, The Conversation’s West Africa regional editor, virologist Oyewale Tomori explains that the US case was not the only export from Nigeria this year. He provides insights into why this is happening and what needs to be done. OYEWALE TOMORI, Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Science Is it right to describe the latest development as a resurgence of Monkeypox in Nigeria? Not really. Monkeypox is endemic and always with us in…