Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican health authorities have announced that there is no risk of the disease mpox (formerly known as monkey pox) becoming a pandemic, after 13 cases of the disease were diagnosed in the northern province of Niassa.
According to Eduardo Samo Gudo, general director of the National Health Institute (INS), cited by the independent paper “O País”, although the country has no vaccine to respond to the mpox outbreak, there is no risk of it becoming a pandemic.
“It is possible to contain the spread of the virus without resorting to vaccination. There are various ways the disease is transmitted. Scientific evidence shows that the most effective is sexual contact and skin-to-skin contact, such as shaking hands or hugging. The indirect way, which is common in Mozambique, consists of touching contaminated objects or surfaces”, he said.
“In terms of symptoms, the individual experiences fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, and lesions or blisters all over the body, including the face”, he added.
However, the director assured that the country has testing capacity, “one of the ways to respond to the disease.”
“All provinces have public health testing capacity. The 13 confirmed cases of mpox in Niassa were tested there. However, the most efficient measure is vaccination, which is being implemented in nine countries”, he said.
He explained that the vaccine is less available in Mozambique and it is very expensive “but we are engaged in vaccine mobilization, and negotiations are currently underway, mainly with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which is the body mobilizing all the vaccines for the continent.”
“We have countries with much more severe cases that have not yet had vaccination”, he added.
Mpox is a viral disease, transmitted from animals to human beings, which was first identified in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The current outbreak in Africa has been reported in 22 countries, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the countries affected are the DRC, Angola, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and now Mozambique.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
