5 cases of monkeypox virus have been recorded in 3 regions of Ghana – GHS
This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient, who was displaying the appearance of the characteristic rash during its recuperative stage. As more cases of monkeypox are detected in Europe and North America in 2022, some scientists who have monitored numerous outbreaks in Africa say they are baffled by the unusual disease's spread in developed countries. (CDC via AP)
Five cases of the monkeypox virus have been recorded so far since May 24, 2022, the Ghana Health Service has revealed.
The Service explained that it detected 12 suspected cases which it investigated.
Eastern, Western and Greater Accra are so far regions that have recorded the cases
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service at a press briefing on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, revealed that “one of the cases was recorded in a Ghanaian who travelled from the United States of America to Ghana, so he might have picked it up from there.”
As it stands now outbreaks of the virus have been found in Europe, Australia and America.
Symptoms of the monkeypox often include fever and rash, but the infection is usually mild.
Monkeypox is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe and experts say chances of infection are low.
It occurs mainly in remote parts of central and west African countries, near tropical rainforests.
In those regions, there have been over 1,200 cases of monkeypox since the start of the year.
There are two main strains of the virus, from West Africa and Central Africa. The milder strain is from West Africa, which is now circulating in other parts of the world.
