Kenya is alert and on the lookout after cases of monkeypox continue to be reported across the world.
The World Health Organization has warned that more cases of the disease are likely to be reported as surveillance expands.
But local health experts have said there is no cause for alarm.
Monkeypox is a viral disease transmitted from animals to humans and has symptoms similar to those of smallpox. It is, however, clinically less severe.
According to WHO, the virus can be transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
The incubation period for the disease is between six and 13 days.
“In Kenya I don’t think we have a cause to worry. We should be on the lookout particularly on our entry points,” Global health expert Dr Bernard Muia told the Star on Sunday.
In Africa, cases of the disease were reported in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria between December 2021 and May 1, 2022.
According to WHO, the virus is endemic to some animal populations in a number of countries, leading to occasional outbreaks among locals and travellers. However, the latest outbreak is occurring in non-endemic countries.
“Current available evidence suggests that those who are most at risk are those who have had close physical contact with someone with monkeypox, while they are symptomatic,” WHO warns.
According to CDC, the disease begins with fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and exhaustion, but unlike smallpox, monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell.
Within three days, the patient develops rashes often beginning on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body.
