Equateur Province, DRC: Monkeypox outbreak

[alert]

http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2010/12/29/nord-ubangi-augmentation-des-cas-de-monkey-pox-a-gbadolite-panique-dans-la-population/#more-84706

French to English translation
Nord-Ubangi: increased cases of Monkey Pox in Gbadolite, panic in the population
Published 15 hours, 57 minutes, under News, Health, Society, Ecuador.

A sick child of Monkey Pox, DRC Ecuador
A sick child of Monkey Pox, DRC Ecuador
Twelve case last week, Monkey pox cases are passed to these eighteen days, including fourteen in the area of health Molegbe, a village 15 km from Gbadolite. No deaths have been recorded so far. But this increase in disease in areas of health Gbadolite, dana the Equateur province, causes psychosis among the local population.
It is now three weeks since this situation occurs. According to the Medical Officer of Health Zone Gbadolite, Dr. Christopher Kotanda, the medical management of patients poses serious problems. There is no medicine or disinfectant at the central office to support structures, he says.

Health professionals are not limited to educating the public about food hygiene.

No contact with patients, not handling sick animals and no consumption of meat from an animal found dead in the forest, such as monkeys, squirrels and porcupines, advises Dr. Christopher Kotanda.

The doctor added that the lack of picture boxes, megaphones and prevent fuel lead to better awareness, and especially to bring the message to remote villages.

This is the first time the city of Gbadolite knows such a disease.

The population panicked reluctant to eat the meat of the game sold in the market.

Greetings between individuals become just as rare these days in Gbadolite, for fear of being contaminated.

[alert]

Re: Equateur Province, DRC: Monkeypox outbreak - 5 fatalities

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:3122299790001093::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,86627

Archive Number 20110113.0148
Published Date 13-JAN-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Monkeypox - Congo DR: (ET)


MONKEYPOX - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: (EQUATEUR)
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Wed 12 Jan 2011
Source: Radio Okapi [in French, trans. Mod.MPP, edited]
<http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2011/01/12/equateur-114-cas-de-monkey-pox-dont-5-deces-signales-a-bikoro/>


Equateur province: 114 cases with 5 deaths due to monkeypox reported in Bikoro
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The disease [known as] monkeypox, also known as monkey variola, has raged
in the north and south of Equateur province. At least 3 health zones are
affected. For example, in the Bikoro health zone, 114 people have
contracted the disease and 5 have died.

According to the WHO Equateur provincial branch, the Bikoro health zone has
broken the record with 114 cases. Most of the cases have been reported in
the Mooto health area, about 82 kilometers [51 mi] from Mbandaka.

Two weeks ago, medical authorities suspected the presence of a similar
disease in the Gbadolite health zone. According to the WHO/Equateur
regional medical officer, Louis Pia, laboratory tests on specimens from
patients that were sent to the INRB (National Institute for Biomedical
Research) in Kinshasa, confirmed that the cause was monkeypox virus.

The disease has been reported also in Boende health zone. The same
confirmation has been made on specimens taken from patients [in Boende]. It
is still unclear how many have been infected [overall in Equateur].

To deal with this epidemic, medical advice is for observation of hygiene
rules. The medical officer also asked farmers in the affected health zones
not pick up dead animals in the forest, including monkeys, squirrels, and
pangolins that transmit this disease to humans.

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[A recent investigation suggests that monkeypox virus, to which the
smallpox vaccine also provides immunity, is now at least 20 times as common
as it was shortly after the eradication of smallpox and the relaxation of
immunisation. (For a detailed discussion see ProMED-mail Monkeypox,
increased incidence - Congo DR 20100901.3124, and AW Rimoina et al. Major
increase in human monkeypox incidence 30 years after smallpox vaccination
campaigns cease in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Proc Natl Acad Sci
USA. 2010; 107(37): 16262-7. <http://www.pnas.org/content/107/37/16262.long>.)

Whereas monkeypox virus infection is somewhat less serious than smallpox,
it can still scar and even kill its victims. And in contrast to smallpox,
monkeypox is not only able to jump between humans, but can infect through
contact with the small animals that harbor the virus (such as rodents,
squirrels, and monkeys). As a result, its control may be more difficult to
achieve.

The virus species _Monkeypox virus_ is a member of the genus
_Orthopoxvirus_. Monkeypox virus can cause a disease in humans that is
clinically similar to smallpox and outbreaks in central Africa have been
associated with significant mortality (such as reported above), although
none occurred in an outbreak in the USA in 2003 associated with introduced
African rodents. An important difference between monkeypox virus and
smallpox virus (variola virus) is that monkeypox virus so far has not
transmitted from person-to-person as efficiently as variola virus. Indeed
monkeypox virus is normally resident in rodents and squirrels but can be
transmitted to other species as zoonoses. Phylogenetically the species
_Monkeypox virus_ is among the most divergent viral species from the
species _ Variola virus_. In fact variola virus is more closely related to
camelpox virus than to monkeypox virus. Consequently evolution of monkeypox
virus into a variola-like virus by mutation and selection is improbable.
Nonetheless it has potential to cause significant disease in the human
population and might require in limited situations reuse of vaccinia virus
vaccine.

[alert]

Re: Equateur Province, DRC: Monkeypox and chickenpox outbreak

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:180599183477307::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,87183

Archive Number 20110221.0569
Published Date 21-FEB-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Monkeypox - Congo DR (02): (ET)


MONKEYPOX - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (02): (EQUATEUR)
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Mon 14 Feb 2011
From: Karen Saylors <ksaylors@gvfi.org>[edited]


[Re: ProMED-mail Monkeypox - Congo DR: (ET) 20110113.0148]
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Based on the Global Viral Forecasting and UCLA's field presence in
Democratic Republic of Congo through the USAID Emerging Pandemic
Threats (EPT) PREDICT initiative, this report of 114 cases of
monkeypox, resulting in 5 deaths, seems exaggerated. There is limited
diagnostic and confirmatory capacity for monkeypox in Equateur
Province and elsewhere in the country, outside of Kinshasa: of the
2000 suspected monkeypox cases reported across DRC in 2010, only 120
samples were taken and sent to INRB (National Institute for
Biomedical Research) in Kinshasa, of which only 20 were confirmed
positive for monkeypox.

Furthermore, monkeypox symptoms are often confused with chickenpox.
Our field team, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health
and INRB, reported the following clarifications from Bikoro health
zone in Equateur: of the 3 samples received at INRB, 2 were confirmed
positive for chickenpox and one confirmed monkeypox. From Gbadolite
in Equateur province, of 3 samples received, 2 were confirmed
monkeypox and one was chickenpox.

Due to the capacity limitations in DRC, the Ministry of Health and
EPT partners (PREDICT, RESPOND, and CDC) and other NGOs are
recommending a national training mission through health structures,
focused on training field personnel, sampling techniques and
supplies, cold chain, and personal protective devices. One important
conclusion in collaborative meetings concerned the fact that
monkeypox is an endemic disease in DRC which often gets exaggerated
in the press. The latest news is that CDC has sent a team to Kinshasa
to prepare for a field visit to Boende, Equateur Province, to begin training.

--
Karen Saylors, Ph.D.
Director, Behavioral Sciences
Global Viral Forecasting Initiative
1 Sutter Street, Suite 600/ San Francisco, CA 94104, USA
<ksaylors@gvfi.org>

[ProMED-mail apologises for the delay in posting Dr Saylors' relevant
comment on the recent outbreak of monkeypox virus infection in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. This occurred because of technical
problems with our email system. In the absence of laboratory
diagnostics it is clear that there is high risk of overestimation of
case numbers in view of the clinical similarity of monkeypox and
chickenpox. - Mod.CP]

[see also:
Monkeypox - Congo DR: (ET) 20110113.0148
2010
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Monkeypox, increased incidence - Congo DR 20100901.3124]
...................................cp/mj/dk