All 24 Mpox cases that underwent testing have yielded negative results as Zambia intensifies its monitoring and vigilance in response to the disease outbreak.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern following the rapid spread of the disease in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) Director-General Prof. Roma Chilengi has since revealed that the health authorities have stepped up efforts to contain and prevent possible spread of the disease with no positive cases recorded so far.
“We have deployed surveillance teams to sensitive areas especially on the North Western part of Zambia and we have so far actually screened at least 24 suspected cases and fortunately none of them is positive,” Prof. Chilengi said during a special interview on HotFM radio today.
Despite having recorded no positive cases so far, Prof. Chilengi still warned that Zambia remains at high risk of Mpox due to the close proximity with the DR Congo and other regions which are hotspots for the disease.
“Mpox being an infectious disease obviously renders proximity to be a big risk factor. The fact that we share a well over 2000 of a porous border with the DRC keeps us in high alert because we are at high risk,” Prof. Chilengi warned.
“Zambia has actually never recorded a case of Mpox and so we’ve always been on alert when the disease broke out in any nation of interest in this case DR Congo.”
Prof. Chilengi who also serves as Special Assistant to the President for Health, says that the ZNPHI together with other health authorities remain vigilant and have since taken stringent steps to prepare and contain the possible spread of the Mpox disease in the country.
He also urged members of the public to play their part by being on high alert and report any suspected cases of the disease as soon as possible.
“The message to the public is to be alert and report any suspicions of Mpox to the health facilities because we have triggered high alert throughout the country and began training and really emphasizing the high index of suspicion among the health workers so much so that if someone has symptoms, they should be able to be screened and we are able to tell whether one has Mpox or not,” he said.
He added: “The critical issue is that Mpox is highly infectious and we’d want to identify it at an early stage and isolate the case in the interest of limiting the spread.”
