If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Just as South Africans were starting to relax as Covid-19 infections started slowing down, the health ministry dropped a bomb – the first case of monkeypox had been detected in the country.
When the first case of this new outbreak was reported in Europe, South Africans weren’t overly concerned. It seemed a bit far and they were still dealing with Covid-19 regulations.
Now it’s here. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed a case of monkeypox involving a 30-year-old Gauteng man. Contact tracing is in progress.
The first case in SA was identified through laboratory testing at the NICD last Wednesday (22 June) and, according to reports, the now isolated man has not travelled anywhere recently.
Health professionals have called for South Africans to remain calm because unlike the Covid-19 virus, monkeypox isn’t deadly.
According to health minister Joe Phaahla, the NICD is conducting online, in-service training for health workers to be able to detect the disease.
What is Monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection in humans resulting from infection with the monkeypox virus, part of the same virus family as smallpox.
How is it transmitted?
Monkeypox is not highly transmissible and close physical contact is required for one to be infected as it spreads through close droplets.
Person-to-person transmission involves close contact such as kissing, cuddling and sexual contact with an infected person or materials that have been contaminated by an infected person – for example sharing linen, clothes and other household items.
According to Phaahla, monkeypox has been dominant in men who have sex with men so far.
Symptoms of Monkeypox:
. Fever. Headache . Muscle aches and backache. Swollen lymph nodes. Chills. Exhaustion. Sometimes people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms; others just experience a rash.
What happens when you get Monkeypox?
It’s visually spotted by a blister-like rash, but the virus also presents with an acute illness characterised by fever and general flu-like symptoms, then followed by the eruption of a blister-like rash on the skin.
The disease is rarely fatal and cases typically resolve within two to four weeks. Most cases don’t require hospital treatment, but prevention of infection includes the isolation of cases until fully recovered. The risk to the general population is considered low, given the relatively low transmission rates of the virus. – News24, Drum
