The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHaP) announced three new cases of monkeypox late on Sunday.
“Monkeypox is a viral disease, but usually a self-limited one, if compared to Covid-19. It’s mostly transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, including bodily fluids, and respiratory droplets, or with material contaminated with the virus. It can also be passed to the baby in the womb,” the ministry said in a statement carried by WAM.
The ministry also urged people to follow preventative measures and precautions while travelling and stay safe in large crowds. In addition, it also reassured the UAE public that the “health authorities are taking all necessary measures, including investigation, examination of contacts, and monitoring their health,” WAM reported.
MoHaP is coordinating with other health authorities in the implementation of an epidemiological surveillance system to help ensure sustainable efficiency and community protection from communicable diseases and rapid detection, as well as work to limit the spread of all diseases and viruses, including monkeypox.
“All health authorities in the country are committed to a unified national medical guide for dealing with Monkeypox-infected people and their contacts. This includes complete isolation of the infected in hospitals until they recover, while quarantining their close contacts for a period of no less than 21 days at home and monitoring their health condition, and enforcing their compliance with home isolation,” the ministry said.
The UAE reported its first case of monkeypox on Wednesday last week, in a 29-year-old woman who arrived from West Africa.
Why is it called monkeypox?
Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox. Since then monkeypox has been reported in humans in other central and western African countries.
How does monkeypox spread?
The monkeypox virus is primarily transmitted when a person comes into contact with the virus from an animal, human, or materials contaminated with the virus.
The virus enters the body through broken skin – even if not visible – respiratory tract, or the mucous membranes such as the eyes, nose, or mouth.
Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required, the US CDC explained.
Animal-to-human transmission may also occur through bites or scratches, bush meat preparation, direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, or indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated bed linen.
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