While the virus was detected in a first patient in Luxembourg on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health does not expect an explosion of cases of monkeypox.
The news was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Health, just hours after the diagnosis: a first case of monkey pox has been detected on Luxembourg soil. The press release specifies that the state of health of the patient in question is “excellent” and that he is currently being cared for within the National Infectious Diseases Service of the Luxembourg Hospital Center (CHL).
At the same time, the Health Inspection teams immediately launched an investigation to trace the last contacts he may have had with those around him.
The Ministry of Health says it does not expect an explosion of cases, but recommends people who have symptoms of infection – rash, fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and/or fatigue – promptly consult the CHL’s National Infectious Diseases Service and refrain from close contact or sexual activity until monkeypox is ruled out or the infection is cleared.
Already 1,600 cases in 39 countries, and 72 deaths recorded
Since the first case in the UK in May, the evolution of the disease globally has been closely monitored, whereas so far monkeypox has been confined to West and Central Africa, where the virus is endemic in animals.
“Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,600 cases have been identified in 39 countries, including 32 newly affected,” the WHO director general told reporters on Tuesday. “To date, 72 deaths have been reported in countries where the disease usually circulates, but none in new areas,” he said.
Surveillance, contact tracing and isolation of infected patients are the three tools to counter this virus, according to the World Health Organization. It stresses that it is essential to raise awareness of the risks and the measures to be taken to reduce transmission among the groups most at risk, including men who have sex with men, and their close contacts.
The director concluded by stressing that the global epidemic was “unusual and concerning” and he added that an emergency committee will be convened to determine whether this outbreak “constitutes a public health emergency of international concern”.
Symptoms under the magnifying glass
This rare tropical disease is characterized by purulent pustules appearing on the body after an incubation period of five to ten days during which the person is not contagious. The first symptoms are high fever, fatigue, headaches and body aches.
In the event of a positive result, the person concerned must go into isolation for 21 days from the date of onset of symptoms and respect barrier gestures. If necessary, the ministry specifies that the patient can remain hospitalized at the CHL.
He points out that monkeypox is “not considered highly contagious, as it requires close physical contact with someone infectious (skin-to-skin, prolonged face-to-face contact) to spread.” Thus, the risk to the health of the general population is “considered low”, specify the authorities.
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