Russia’s consumer rights watchdog said on Tuesday that a young man who had just returned from Europe had the country’s first incidence of Monkeypox.
Russia’s rights watchdog Rospotrebnazor mentioned in the statement, “The first case of Monkeypox has been reported in Russia. The disease was traced in a young man who returned from a trip to Europe & came to a medical facility with a rash that is common.”
Rospotrebnadzor made a clarification that the patient has mild symptoms & is isolated.
The World Health Organization-WHO released a statement in the previous week of June that the monkeypox outbreaks do not currently constitute a global public health concern but added that “intense response efforts” are required to control further spread.
The following announcement comes after WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus called an Emergency Committee on the infection under the International Health Regulations (IHR) to address the rising caseload.
The PHEIC statement is the highest level of global alert, which presently applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic & polio.
Monkeypox, a rare viral disease, appears mainly in tropical rainforest areas of Central & West Africa, though it is sometimes exported to other regions.
Since May, over 3,000 cases have emerged in 47 nations, many of which have never earlier reported the infection. The highest numbers are presently in Europe & most cases are among men who have sex with other men.
Tedros added that he is deeply concerned by the outbreak of the disease & that both he as well as WHO is following the evolving threat very closely. “What makes the current outbreak specifically concerning is rapid, continuing spread into new nations and regions & the risk of further, sustained transmission into vulnerable population inclusive of people that are immunocompromised, pregnant women and children.”
He asserted the need for both collective attention and coordinated action via public health measures, including surveillance, contact tracing, isolation and care of patients, and ensuring vaccines, treatments & other tools are available to at-risk populations as well as shared fairly.
