Ministry of Health calls on citizens to be vigilant of Mpox virus

Ministry of health has called on citizen to be vigilant when protecting themselves from Mpox disease- which the first case was discovered on July 31,2024.

MPOX is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkey pox virus its Infection occurs when a person comes into contact with infected person,animal or contaminated materials.

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CS for health Dr Deborah Mlongo urged citizens to maintain cleanliness by washing their hands frequently to avoid contracting the virus.

Virus transmission

According to the ministry of health, the virus is said to spread through bites, scratches or direct contact with body fluids .

However, the primary risk is contact with an infected person or contaminated personal items such as utensils ,clothing or through sexual contacts.

Mpox has an incubation period of 5 to 14 days which may vary depending from 1 to 21 days where infection start showing up.

Cs Deborah highlighted several signs and symptoms of the Mpox such as skin rash , fever, headache muscle aches ,back pain , fatigue and swollen lymph nodes among others.

” It is important to notes that there are other diseases that may occur that may appear to be like Mpox. This include scubies and chicken pox among others,” Cs noted.

Measures taken to combat Mpox

However, the ministry of health has taken several interventions to makes sure that the citizens are safe.

The ministry has activated the public health Emergency operation center and incident management system for MPOX which oversees overall coordination and response effort in the country.

Cs Deborah added that they have directed all the counties to activate their Rapid Response Team(RRT) that are crucial in case investigations and contact tracing.

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Consequently, the ministry says that at least 300,000 travellers have been screened in the country.

” The diligence of our serveillance Team ensured that the one and only confirmed case was detected early and that the patient’s contact were followed up And none developed the disease, “she added.

The ministry of health has highlighted several measures people should take such as washing their hands, practice good hygiene, avoid sharing personal items Like towels, Wear protective gears and be cautious while dealing with wild animals-avoid eating their meat.