BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
WHILE it is welcoming for Solomon Islands to Re-open its international borders, there is another oncoming threat namely ‘Monkey pox virus’ now developing globally.
Dr Yohesh choundri, Advisor to the MHMS said that, since 14th of May this year 2022, two related cases were reported in the United Kingdom (UK).
Dr Yohesh said during the Oversight Committee Covid-19 Talkback Show on SIBC Sunday, that so far there are 219 cases reported in 19 countries worldwide.
Dr Yohesh said that Monkeypox cases have been regularly reported from some of the African countries including Cameron and Central Asian republics and are caused by the Monkeypox virus.
He, however, said that such cases might have been imported from country to country.
“We are not seeing outbreaks happening in these 19 countries that I am refereeing to. 12 of them are in European Union, and some are in other countries. However, most that have reported the Monkeypox don’t report locally acquired Monkeypox case,’’ he said.
“In terms of the risk to SI, we see that there are two cases reported in Australia. Some parts of the world are also reporting similar cases…. so it is quite possible we might get a case from one of these countries,’’ he said.
He stated that the Ministry’s first priority is to stop the importation of cases into the country and this will be emphasised through more health awareness updates and information to the general public.
Dr Yohesh stated that contact tracing and managing are now ongoing in Australia.
“We would not see the number of cases been imported like covid-19 into the country because the outbreak is at a very low-level transmission right now, of course, a concern but we don’t expect a higher number of cases,’’ he said.
Advisor Yohesh said that associate symptoms of this disease includes, rash with blister, all over the body, hands, and face; fever, swollen lymph nodes headache, muscle ache and can be spread by physical contacts, skin to skin contact, or body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
He said that monkeypox cases had also been reported in USA as well as Argentina that might not have been acquired locally.
He said that the Ministry and its partners are keeping a close watch on the situation in Australia and other parts of the world to assess the risk of importation.
“Though this is unusual and also concerning, likely it will not lead to a major outbreak but keep a close watch on this developments,’’ he said.
According to Reuters, the WHO is considering whether the outbreak should be assessed as a “potential public health emergency of international concern” or PHEIC. Such a declaration, as was done for COVID-19 and Ebola, would help accelerate research and funding to contain the disease. read more
Reuters reported Rosamund Lewis, a technical lead for monkeypox from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme as saying: “We don’t know but we don’t think monkeypox outbreak has the potential to grow into a pandemic.”
Meanwhile, Dr Yohesh advises that Solomon Islanders who have come from the countries where these outbreaks are now happening, or anyone who comes into contact with a person who has symptoms similar to the Monkey Pox virus or just anyone who develop similar symptoms to immediately informed the Health Ministry so that they can initiate a proper investigation to see if it is a Monkeypox virus or not.
