The Government of Cape Verde has created a Technical Rapid Response Group to manage all prevention, preparation and response measures related to epidemiological surveillance of the new variant of the MPOX virus, according to a resolution that Lusa read this Thursday.
According to a document published in the Official Gazette, the team will also lead risk communication and dissemination of information on disease surveillance.
With this measure, Cape Verde wants to “strengthen all aspects related to prevention, preparedness and response, including the definition of responsibilities and priorities at central and territorial levels.”
The group was created by the government under the auspices of the ministries of internal affairs, health, agriculture and the environment.
The technical group will include, among others, the National Health Directorate (DNS) and other technical experts from the sector, the police, civil protection, those in charge of laboratories, pharmaceutical services, the private health sector and the World Health Organization in the archipelago.
A week ago, after a meeting with health structures to update the epidemiological situation in the archipelago, the National Director of Health, Angela Gomes, assured that the country has established capacity to carry out screening tests for suspected cases of mpox, with several virology laboratories installed within the framework of Covid-19.
Days earlier, Health Minister Filomena Goncalves announced that Cape Verdean authorities would step up surveillance at ports and airports to “quickly” identify suspected cases of the new mpox virus variant, and would focus on communication and awareness-raising.
With a new variant in circulation believed to be more dangerous than the one discovered in 2022, the WHO declared the smallpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency in mid-August, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries.
More than 22,800 cases and at least 622 deaths have been reported in 13 African countries since January, the African Union confirmed on Wednesday, as the continent awaits vaccines.
The new variant can be easily transmitted through close contact between two people without the need for sexual contact.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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