The decease mpox or monkey pox started in the African country Congo about 10 years ago and it’s spreading to neighboring countries now. World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as Global Health Emergency.
The first patient with clade 1b virus of mpox decease was detected in Kerala. Clade 1b is supposed to be highly infectious. The strange thing is the person who was infected with mpox recently travelled to UAE, not to Congo or any other African countries where the mpox virus was detected. Does that mean that there might be someone or more people infected with mpox in UAE already. We hope the UAE authorities note and take adequate precautions.
The symptoms are visible and usually it spreads from contacts. When adequate precautions are taken, the spread could be curtailed.
As it’s mainly spreading through children, the school staff including teachers should be well informed and aware of on how to identify and separate the infected children and notify the authorities immediately. The state governments should provide the emergency measures to ensure that the schools in the states are adequately trained and equipped to handle the outbreak.
There seems to be a vaccine for mpox and the Indian government has not given any statement yet. Two doses are to taken to get the full protection.
Outside of Africa, there were cases in Pakistan and Sweden.
How we can prevent from spreading?
Keep yourself aware of the spread in your community. Avoid shaking hands with strangers. Namaste or vanakkam is the best. If you see someone with the symptoms avoid contact with that person.
If someone has the symptoms of mpox, report it immediately to the authorities. They not only give immediate treatment to the patients and also will check the spread of the disease in your locality.
Presence of Indian population in Congo.
There is a small group of Indian originin DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and there is an Indian Embassy in Congo. It was recorded about 6000 as per 2016 statistics. Don’t see any information of anyone from Indian origin affected with the mpox.
If anyone wants to know more about mpox, here is the FAQ from WHO.
In conclusion, this is one of the deceases that needs to be vigilant about and very well controlled and eradicate the virus from the world.
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