Kenya has taken suspected monkeypox samples to Senegal for testing since the country’s testing capacity is limited.
The Informer has learned that the Ministry of Health made a request for a permit to transport the samples to Senegal for screening and the results will be out in due course.
This comes after Dr. Emmanuel Okunga, the acting Head of the Division of Disease Surveillance and Response at the Ministry revealed that two weeks ago they had one suspected monkeypox case at Kenyatta National Hospital which turned out negative.
He said the case could be mistaken for yellow fever, explaining that many diseases appear with rashes and fever which has not been recorded anywhere in the country.
Last month, Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache said that the Ministry of Health has enhanced surveillance after no cases of monkeypox have been recorded.
She stated that Kenya and the East African region have put in place robust and appropriate response mechanisms.
“Neither Kenya nor our sister countries in the region have registered any case. Even then, we have done all that is required to stem possible spread in the country,” said Mochache.
Seven African countries have cumulatively reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) nearly 1400 monkeypox cases (1392 suspected, 44 confirmed) so far this year. This case count is for the year up until mid-May and is based on preliminary reports.
The cases have been reported from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. The number of cases in 2022 is slightly fewer than half of the cases reported in 2021.
The US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention is investigating more cases of monkeypox across the United States as part of a global outbreak.
The CDC has identified nine monkeypox cases in seven states as of Wednesday, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday.
Cases have been identified in Massachusetts, Florida, Utah, Washington, California, Virginia, and New York.
Most of the cases “are within gay [and] bisexual men and other men who have sex with men,” she said. Virginia announced Thursday that the case in its state is a woman.
Walensky called for an approach “guided by science, not by stigma.”
“This is a community that has the strength and has demonstrated the ability to address challenges to their health by focusing on compassion and science,” she said in an apparent reference to the AIDS epidemic.
“While some groups may have a greater chance of exposure right now, infectious diseases do not care about state or international borders. They’re not contained within social networks, and the risk of exposure is not limited to any one particular group,” she warned.
Walensky implored Americans “to approach this outbreak without stigma and discrimination.”