Uruguay's Public Health Ministry is permanently monitoring the possibility of a monkeypox outbreak in the South American country but so far no cases have been detected, Minister Karina Rando explained Thursday during a press conference in Montevideo. ”In our country we have all the alerts turned on..
., the Public Health Laboratory has its sentinel centers..
., we have not detected any new cases in Uruguay recently, despite the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration” of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Our work is the control of all those people who have been exposed to possible contagion and, of course, the troops who are in Congo will have a very particular medical follow-up and also, if they have any symptoms, the index of suspicion is very high if they come from areas where there are outbreaks, she added.
Uruguayan troops have been deployed to Congo as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission. It is in that African country that most cases have surged, leading the WHO to this week's declaration after more than 500 deaths have been attributed to monkeypox so far in 13 African countries this year alone given the rapid spread of the new variant of the virus (clade I). Also Thursday, Swedish authorities confirmed the first non-African detection of the malady in a man with a recent travel history.
Swedish Public Health Agency Acting Director Olivia Wigzell said the infected person sought care in the Stockholm area. She also pointed o.