By Joseph Dumbula.
Malawi has marked two suspected M-pox cases, government has said.
M-pox is an infectious disease caused by the monkey pox virus and causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.
The current cases, according to Minister of health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, have been recorded in the commercial city of Blantyre.
This comes at a time when Malawi is on high alert after the infection has hit at least 12 nations in the African continent thus far, with the Democratic Republic of Congo being the epitome.
‘’We don’t want people to panic. We have set stringent measures from all fronts,’’ said Kandodo.
Meanwhile, the ministry of health has also insisted it is on alert as schools are due to open at the start of next month.
As of 2018, school age children made up ~40% of Malawi’s total population, leading to overcrowded classrooms with a student to teacher ratio of 1:75.
Malawi has grappled for long with hygiene related infections due to poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene and lack of facilities.
