Bangladesh Ports Put On Monkeypox Alert

The Directorate General of Health Services has alerted land and air ports in Bangladesh to the potential spread of monkeypox, a viral disease, after its detection in a dozen countries, including in the USA and the UK.

A DGHS circular issued on Saturday asked the port and relevant authorities to stay alert about passengers entering Bangladesh from the countries where the disease has been detected, reports media.

Monkeypox, which is endemic in the West and Middle African countries, has recently been detected in the USA and in many European countries where people have no history of travelling to the endemic countries, said the DGHS circular.

Patients with symptoms such as blister and the history of travelling to countries where monkeypox patients have been detected should be regarded as suspected cases, according to the DGHS circular.

It also warned that patients with symptoms that came in contact with similar symptoms or suspected or confirmed monkeypox cases should also be considered suspected cases.

The DGHS asked the port authorities to strengthen health screening.

Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that can be transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus, the World Health Organisation said.

It typically starts with flu-like symptoms such as fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications, according to WHO.

The virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding, it said.

The disease may last from 2 to 4 weeks and may present with severe symptoms with a recent fatality rate of 3 to 6 per cent.

Historically, WHO observed that the case fatality ratio ranged from 0 to 11 per cent among general population and had been higher among the young children.

Smallpox vaccine could be 85 per cent effective in preventing the disease, according to the World Health Organisation.

Children are particularly susceptible to the disease which can also be passed from mothers to their children in womb or after birth through contact.

Monkeyox was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two years after smallpox had been eliminated.

The first human case of monkeypox outside Africa was reported in the USA in 2003. The disease then kept popping up in non-endemic countries in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Since May 13, 2022, WHO said that 92 confirmed and 28 suspected monkeypox cases had been reported in 12 member countries that were non-endemic to the disease.

Based on currently available information, cases have mainly but not exclusively been identified amongst men who have sex with men seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics, the organisation published in its website.

The countries that reported monkeypox cases include Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK and the USA.

A vaccine was approved for the disease in 2019, according to WHO.