Singapore recently reported its first case of monkeypox after a Nigerian man was tested positive for the virus on May 8. He is currently isolated and warded at the National Centre for Infectious Disease. 23 people who were in close contact with him are also separately quarantined and closely monitored.
Here are some facts that you might want to know about this rare viral disease:
1. This virus is called monkeypox because it was first discovered in lab monkeys in 1958.
2. This virus is transmitted from animals to humans e.g. consumption of bush meat (meat of hunted wild animals in Africa).
3. This viral disease is occasionally reported in central and western parts of Africa's tropical rainforest.
4. First case reported outside Africa was in the US in 2003.
5. Patients infected with monkeypox usually experience headache, body ache, fever, rashes and swollen lymph nodes.
6. Infections may also lead to brain inflammation or pneumonia.
7. There is no effective vaccine against monkeypox.
8. Smallpox vaccine has been shown to be about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox viral infection.
9. This virus can be transmitted between human individuals but is limited.
10. Spread of virus between human individuals can be through aerosol droplets and typically requires prolonged face-to-face contact.
Find out more about the monkeypox virus from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html
Commenti