Last night, we told you about the first confirmed case of Monkeypox in Chetumal, which is the closest that this disease has come to Belize's borders so far.
Official communication from the Mexican Ministry of Health said that the patient is an adult male who is stable and in isolation for the beginning of his month-long recovery from the disease. Mexican media reports indicated that the patient requested medical attention on July 11th after he started having skin lesions, a low-grade fever, headache, and muscle pain. Test results confirmed that he was sick with monkeypox.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness in Belize is closely monitoring what their counterparts in other countries are doing to keep the disease under control after it is detected. So does this now mean that Chetumal is off limits for travelers? Or that you should wear a mask when going north? Today, the Director of Health and Wellness told the media what they know about monkeypox so far:
Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa - Director, Public Health & Wellness
"Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is what we call a viral zoonotic disease. So what that means is that it can spread from animals to humans and can spread between people as well. There are two main strains of monkeypox. There is one that's more dangerous and more transmissible, and that's known as the Congo Basin strain. And then there is the other one, which is the West African strain. The West African strain gives fewer symptoms, and this is the strain that has been identified in countries currently outside of the known endemic areas. So, the incubation period for monkeypox is usually 7 to 14 days. Remember, this is a guide as well. So, it can call in a little bit before or a little bit after that. The typical symptoms, the monkeypox symptoms, we know that prior to many viruses, we have a period called a prodrome, where persons describe fever, fatigue, muscle aches, back pain, and then usually after this, then other symptoms would start. But what's significant as well, one symptom that we look for in monkeypox is - we call it lymphadenopathy. So it's swelling of the lymph nodes. And these swollen lymph nodes can be found anywhere in the body, but more commonly in the neck, so in the jawbone area, armpits, and also in the groin. So with persons presenting with fever, fatigue, and body aches, we also need to check in these areas to make sure that we can feel the swelling as well, the lymph node swelling.pox."
