Mozambique Health Institute on ‘maximum laboratory readiness’ for mpox testing

The National Institute of Health (INS) of Mozambique told Lusa this Monday that it is on “maximum laboratory readiness” to test suspected cases of mpox in the country, believing that it can respond to “any demand.”

“As far as testing is concerned, we are in maximum laboratory readiness. We have the ability to increase our capacity and our dynamics if necessary, but the number of suspects [ainda] “It’s low, we don’t think it’s a concern for us in the short term,” said Eduardo Samo Goudeau, INS national director.

Samo Goudeau highlighted the “great” testing capacity the country has acquired in recent years, highlighting the construction of public health laboratories across the country, which has allowed for the decentralization of services and, as a result, an increase in the number of tests carried out daily.

“We have the capacity to respond to any demand in terms of suspected cases. We have the capacity to test a very large number of samples,” said the person in charge, remembering that at the peak of Covid-19, the lab was conducting more than a thousand tests a day.

Without providing specific figures, the official acknowledged an increase in suspected smallpox cases in Mozambique after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a health emergency, but said all cases tested at the INS were negative.

“It’s good when we have suspects. It means that the surveillance system is on high alert, but when there are no suspects, it’s bad,” the director said, giving a positive assessment of the inspection work.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new variant in circulation believed to be more dangerous than the one discovered in 2022.

The WHO warning stems from the rapid spread and high mortality of the new variant in Africa, as well as a case in Sweden from a traveller who had been in an area of ​​the African continent where the virus is circulating heavily.

The variant is different from the one that caused a brutal outbreak in Africa in 2022 and hundreds of cases in Europe, North America and other countries.

In Mozambique, authorities have not recorded a single case of the disease this year, but President Filipe Nyusi warned last week that mpox could become “another challenge” to public health in the country, signaling increased surveillance and disease prevention efforts by the Health Ministry.

During the 2022 outbreak, Mozambique recorded just one case in Maputo province in the south of the country, according to data provided by the head of state himself.

For the Mozambique Medical Association, the country’s priority in the event of a possible outbreak of the new variant should primarily include educating communities and strengthening institutional capacity.

“Basically, these are two fundamental pillars: preparing communities and, the second priority, we need to strengthen the capacity of our health facilities, because unfortunately our health facilities are not prepared,” Napolean Viola, a representative of the Mozambique Medical Association, told Luce.

Speaking to the international press in Geneva on Tuesday, the WHO conveyed a message of calm about the smallpox outbreak, trying to contain alarmist information and rumours about the mode of transmission.

“MPox is not Covid. From what we know, MPox is mainly transmitted through contact with infected skin, including during sexual intercourse,” said WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge.

This is the second time in two years that the infectious disease has been considered a potential international public health emergency: the first warning was issued in May, after the spread had been contained and the situation was considered under control.