Cameroon: Medics Sound Alarm on Monkeypox as Public Health Emergency

By Sonita Ngunyi Nwohtazie Health officials in Cameroon, most especially in the South West region have raised the alarm after two cases of the monkeypox epidemic were detected in some parts of the region. With more than 16,000 cases reported in 75 countries worldwide since the beginning of May 2022, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom, declared the multi-country monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The first case of this virus in Cameroon was identified on May 14 2018 and since then the infectious virus has been on a hike spreading into other parts of the South West region. This reemerging zoonosis is coming at a time when the battle against COVID-19, Cholera and Misses is ongoing in the country. Monkeypox virus as research provides is a rare disease which can easily be contaminated in most of West Africa. The infectious disease renders infected patients seek from two to four weeks as it cripples the body. The South West Region Delegate of Public health Dr Eko Eko Filbert, has necessary measures have been put in place to mitigate the spread of the monkeypox virus.  "The South West Region is one of the regions with one confirmed case of the monkeypox virus precisely from the Kumba-Mbonge health district as confirmed by Central Pasteur du Cameroon. We do not want the population to panic. Yes, it is an epidemic which can kill but we are taking all necessary measures to see that the disease is controlled.” “We have carried out awareness campaigns through sensitization so that the population should know that it exists and it is not a myth. We have put in place necessary measures that the population should adhere to. We have sent a team to the field to do an investigation to know the origin and strategize so that infected persons can be isolated from the general public. All cases that would be recorded will be isolated, managed and treated because we do not want to record any death." The SW health boss says the population should practice good hygiene and avoid eating monkeys as a delicacy. Dr Eko Eko said: "It is just simple hygiene which includes washing of hands, distancing from infected individuals. This will go a long way to prevent the spread of monkeypox knowing that it is a disease that comes from animals especially from monkeys so the population should avoid eating raw meat specifically from the bush. Because such meat will only increase the spread of the epidemic." "We will continue with advocacy as we are deploying these teams to the ground with all these means of logistics not living out the participation of stakeholders such that we appropriately and adequately fight this epidemic and prevent this disease from spreading in a wide range,” He explained. "We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations," Dr Tedros said. "WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region where we assess the risk as high," Dr Tedros said, adding that "there is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low for the moment." Over 20 cases of the monkeypox virus have been detected in 2022 in Cameroon with the reemerging disease caused by infections from animals. Celebrating world zoonosis day in Cameroon on the 11^th of October under the theme “Together let's join to fight against zoonosis” health personnel organized a sensitization campaign on breaking the chain of transmission from animals to people. “We know that most of the reemerging diseases in the world today are of zoonosis meaning that they are transmissible from animals to humans and so it is an opportunity for us to sensitize our population on these diseases,” said Dr Conrad Ntoh Nkuo Permanent secretary, Zoonosis programme. "We want the population to know that when they have contact with wild animals especially monkeys and rodents like rats when you have them in your house it exposes you to monkeypox; so, people should not have contact with dead animals and also cook meat very well," Dr Conrad explained. [caption id="attachment_101989" align="alignnone" width="717"] SW Public Health Boss Dr Eko Eko Filbert sounds alarm on Monkeypox[/caption] What is Monkeypox? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines monkeypox as "a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe." The disease primarily affects people close to tropical rainforests in central and west Africa. But it has recently been reported in urban areas. Monkeypox is transmitted by animals said to be susceptible to the virus. The animals include rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, non-human primates and other species. According to WHO, human monkeypox was identified for the first time in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a 9-month-old boy in a region where smallpox had been eliminated in 1968. Since 1970, human cases of monkeypox have been reported in 11 African countries: Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. In 2003, there was a monkeypox outbreak in the US; the first time it was reported out of Africa.