Many health organizations around the world have started extensive investigation campaigns to monitor the first cases of monkeypox in them; In anticipation of the disease not turning into a new epidemic, regardless of its severity, this step came after the number of recorded cases of monkeypox approaching the 100-infection barrier in countries where the disease is not endemic.

As of May 21, the World Health Organization had recorded 92 laboratory confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases from 12 countries where the disease is not endemic.

Risks of not announcing infected cases

The World Organization also warned that shyness in reporting infection with the disease may disrupt the efforts to investigate the epidemic, justifying this by linking infection with it to some ethical and behavioral practices, and said: “Everyone is exposed to the disease and it cannot be considered a limited disease.”

According to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, international health organizations believe that the fear of announcing the infection may cause the investigation campaigns to fail at the beginning of the infection, which may constitute a major breach in thwarting the response to the disease at its inception.

Strengthening epidemic prevention

It is noteworthy that the spread of monkeypox virus re-emphasized the urgent need to strengthen epidemic prevention and support early response after the Covid-19 virus caused uneven disruption in the world for more than two years.

UAE health preparedness to deal with the virus

It is worth noting that the UAE Ministry of Health and Community Protection confirmed the readiness of the health sector in the country to deal with monkeypox, which has spread to many countries around the world.

The ministry said that it took the initiative to study and assess the risk of the epidemic locally according to the volume of international travel, stressing that it had issued a circular for medical staff to work on discovering cases and reporting them to health authorities.

The ministry stated that “the technical advisory team for pandemic control has prepared a guide for surveillance, early detection, management of clinically infected cases, and precautionary measures.”

The ministry also called on the residents of the country to obtain information from its official sources and not to “circulate rumors and false information”, in addition to the importance of following up on developments and instructions issued by the concerned health authorities.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi called on all health facilities operating in the emirate to investigate monkeypox disease, and to report any suspected, potential or confirmed case through the electronic reporting system for communicable diseases.

The Dubai Health Authority has also issued a circular to all health professionals and health facilities operating within the authority’s jurisdiction to promote the epidemiological investigation of the new monkeypox disease that has spread in a number of countries.

monkey pox

The World Health Organization said at the end of last week that as the situation evolves and surveillance expands, more monkeypox cases are expected to be identified.

The organization explained that monkeypox is a rare viral disease of zoonotic origin, “the virus of which is transmitted from animals to humans.”

According to the World Health Organization, “infection with the disease from indicative cases results from direct contact with the blood of infected animals, their body fluids, their skin lesions, or their mucous fluids.”

Symptoms of monkeypox virus

Global health reports unanimously agreed on a group of symptoms of monkeypox virus, which are: fever, severe headache, muscle pain, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, and rash. The rash usually begins within one to three days from the onset of fever, and symptoms last between Two to four weeks and it disappears on its own.