WEB DESK: Sierra Leone declared a public health emergency on Monday in response to two confirmed cases of mpox, signaling heightened measures to combat the deadly viral disease. The government is ramping up border surveillance, testing, and public awareness to contain the outbreak.
The health minister, Austin Demby, said during an impromptu press conference in Freetown, “It has become necessary within the prescription of the public health act for immediate action, linked to the confirmation of two cases of mpox in this country. Accordingly, on behalf of the government of Sierra Leone, I declare a public health emergency.
After a 21-year-old man developed symptoms on January 6, the National Public Health Agency announced the second case. This comes shortly after the country recorded its first confirmed case the week before, indicating the reemergence of the disease even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised its highest alert levels for mpox last year.
The public health declaration allows Sierra Leone to quickly mobilize resources to stem the tide of the spread of the disease, ensuring adequate treatment for affected persons. Intensified border surveillance, improving national testing capacity, and rolling out a nationwide awareness campaign are among the measures.
The minister highlighted the country’s preparedness based on lessons learned from previous public health emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak from 2014 to 2016 and the Covid-19 pandemic. “We urge all citizens to remain calm, stay informed, and report any suspected cases promptly to healthcare authorities,” he stated.
Mpox is characterised by fever and skin lesions known as vesicles and is caused by a virus whose family is the same as that of smallpox. Discovered for the first time in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the disease was largely restricted to some parts of Africa until the year 2022, when cases began to emerge in economically developed countries.
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