WHO calls for rigorous contact tracing for patients with monkeypox
After the appearance of monkeypox in humans in Europe and the United States, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for rigorous prosecution of all contacts of those affected. Clinics and the public must be sensitized to have an unusual skin rash examined by specialists, the WHO announced on Wednesday evening.
If monkeypox is suspected, patients should be isolated. Health workers should use standard precautions to protect against infections that can be spread by contact or droplets, he said.
The WHO points out that hand hygiene, which has become second nature for many people in the Corona pandemic, helps to combat the risk of transmission. This includes washing hands thoroughly with soap and water and using disinfectants. Travel or trade restrictions with the UK are considered unnecessary by the WHO “based on the information currently available”.
According to the WHO, previous cases of monkeypox were usually due to travel to areas of West and Central Africa where the virus is known to be present. The first person affected in the UK had also traveled from Nigeria. According to the WHO, monkeypox has emerged more frequently among Nigerians since 2017. A total of 558 suspected cases have been reported there since then, he said. 241 have been confirmed and eight people have died.
The other patients reported in the UK had themselves contracted the disease in the UK, according to information so far. “The extent of local infection is unclear at this time and it is possible that additional cases will be identified,” the WHO said. He did not give details of cases in other Western countries.
Image by Paul Diaconu
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