According to the WHO, Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonosis with symptoms in humans similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although less severe.
Monkeypox is a rare disease that occurs primarily in remote parts of Central and West Africa, near tropical rain forests.
The virus is transmitted from animals to humans.
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that there is a suspected outbreak of a viral disease called Monkeypox in Bayelsa state.
As a result, a medical doctor and 10 other individuals were quarantined in an isolation center at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri in Yenagoa local government area.
Ways to prevent the transmission of the infection include;
- Avoid eating uncooked meat
The minister of health, Professor Adewole, has advised Nigerians to avoid consuming inadequately cooked meat, especially bushmeat and other dead animals.
2. Avoid contact with household rodents
Rodents like rats and squirrels are known to transmit the virus to human beings and hence, it is advisable to avoid contact with such.
Several measures can be taken to avoid these rodents, using mechanical traps, use of rodenticides, avoiding bushy environment.
3. Avoid contact with clothing materials of infected individuals
The Monkeypox virus can be transmitted indirectly through clothing materials of infected persons.
It is advisable to avoid close contact with individuals who are infected.
4. Avoid contact with body fluids i.e blood, saliva, tears, urine of infected persons
The body fluids of infected individuals are potentially infective. The virus can also be spread via contact with rashes on the body of infected individuals.
5. Avoid contact with respiratory secretions of an infected person
Monkeypox can be transmitted via droplets or secretions from the respiratory tract.
It is best to avoid staying around infected individuals who are coughing or sneezing.
Monkeypox is viral infection that can be transmitted via several means, direct and indirect. The optimal method of preventing transmission is through isolation systems.