A case of wild polio found in Mozambique is very similar to a case found in February in Malawisaid today his acting director African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“The case (in Mozambique) bore a lot of similarities to what was reported in Malawi a few weeks ago,” Ahmed Ogwell Uma told the weekly Press Release.
The case of Malawi has caused concern because in 2020 Africa was declared free of the “wild” type of polio virus, which remains endemic in only two countries worldwide: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan completed January 2022 a year without any cases of the disease.
The governments of Mozambique and Malawi have already launched large-scale polio vaccination campaigns in the areas where the disease has been identified, said Ogwell Uma, explaining that vaccination campaigns have been affected by the 19 covid pandemic.
The polio virus enters the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within a few hours. It can not be cured, but the infection can be prevented through vaccination. The dramatic decline in cases worldwide in recent decades is due to intensive national and international child and infant vaccination campaigns.
Smallpox of monkeys
Ogwell Uma, meanwhile, said many monkey pox epidemics had been brought under control in Africa at a time when international public attention was focused elsewhere.
«During this pandemic (covid-19) there were several smallpox outbreaks of monkeys on the continent (…) We also expect others which we will deal with in the usual wayHe explained that since 2020, outbreaks of the virus have been brought under control in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
«However, we are concerned about the many countries abroad, especially in Europe, that are experiencing such outbreaks of monkey pox. It would be very helpful to share their information about their source“, Stressed Ogwell Uma.
«We are in close contact with our counterparts at the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to understand where it came from. “Because when we see smallpox in monkeys far away from wooded areas, then there are definitely a lot of questions about public health.”he added.
The CDC Africa is available to support countries experiencing outbreaks of the disease, as health authorities in Africa have relevant experience, he said.
Monkey pox is a rare, infectious disease, similar to human pox that was eradicated in 1980. Although it is milder and most patients recover within a few weeks, in rare cases it can be fatal.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. Patients may also develop skin rashes, which often start on the face and spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals.
There is no cure for monkey pox, which is transmitted through contact with an infected patient or body fluids, including saliva. The disease usually resolves on its own.
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