Belgium makes 21-day quarantine mandatory for monkeypox patients. The move comes after four more cases were reported last week. With this, Belgium became the first country to introduce a mandatory quarantine for monkeypox.
The decision was made by Belgian health officials on Friday, the Saudi Gazette reported, citing Belgian media. According to the Belgian Institute of Tropical Medicine, the current situation in the country is not a concern and the risk of the disease spreading is low. At the same time, experts are concerned about the spread of the disease outside of Africa, where it usually spreads.
What is Monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a virus that is transmitted from animals to humans. Although mild, the symptoms of monkeypox are similar to those of smallpox, an orthopedic virus that was declared extinct worldwide in the 1980s. The disease is mainly found in central and western Africa. The disease was first confirmed in monkeys in 1958. Monkeypox was first detected in humans in 1970 in a 9-year-old boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Infection
Monkeypox can be transmitted from animals to humans through direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected animals. Evidence of monkeypox virus infection has been found in a number of animals, including antelopes, rats, and various species of monkeys. People living in or near the forest are at risk of contracting the disease if they come in contact with infected animals.
The disease is transmitted from person to person through close contact with the respiratory secretions of an infected person. The monkeypox virus is transmitted from person to person through close contact with objects, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and bed-like objects.
The placenta can be transmitted from mother to baby during or after birth, as well as through close contact with the baby. With the cessation of smallpox vaccination worldwide, the general immunization against smallpox in the general population may also be reduced.
Symptoms
The incubation period for smallpox is usually 6 to 13 days. But sometimes it can take 5 to 21 days. Symptoms usually last for 2 to 4 weeks. Mortality rates are generally low.
Early symptoms include fever, severe headache, edema, lower back pain, muscle aches, and loss of energy. Within 13 days of the onset of fever, blisters begin to appear on the body. Most blisters are found on the face and limbs. They are also found on the palms, genitals, conjunctiva and cornea.
The severity of the disease depends on the patient’s health status, immunity, and complications of the disease. The disease is most commonly seen in children. Complications of this disease include infections, bronchopneumonia, sepsis, encephalitis, and corneal infections and subsequent vision loss. The extent to which asymptomatic infections can occur is unknown.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for monkeypox as it is a viral disease. It is important to seek treatment for symptoms of monkeypox if symptoms persist, to manage the complications of the disease and to prevent long-term side effects. Vaccination against smallpox is available.
Story Highlights: Belgium become first country to introduce compulsory monkeypox quarantine