The detection of cases of monkeypox in several European countries and even in the United States, has prompted the Moroccan authorities to strengthen controls at the various access points to the kingdom to prevent the importation of the disease.
After a first confirmed case of infection with monkeypox, Thursday in Île-de-France, the General Directorate of Health clarified, Friday, May 20, that it is a 29-year-old man, without history of travel to a country where the virus is circulating. The patient is in isolation at home. Public Health France, which has launched an operation to identify people who have been in close contact with the person, adds that its teams have implemented an epidemiological investigation, in collaboration with the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency. .
On Thursday, Santé Publique France had warned that for the past week, confirmed cases of infection with monkeypox, without a history of travel to a country where the virus is circulating, have been reported in several European countries, such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden. And even in Canada and the United States, cases of the disease have been identified. After the detection of these cases of monkeypox in several countries around the world, the authorities of Morocco have mobilized to prevent the kingdom from being affected. Controls have been strengthened at airports, ports and border crossings.
The royal health authorities have reassured that the situation is not worrying for the moment, neither for Morocco nor for other countries. Monkeypox, a disease particularly active in tropical Africa (West and Central), is characterized by a degree of severity similar to that of human smallpox. It heals in two to three weeks. Its transmission can be airborne, or by contact with skin lesions, biological fluids, respiratory secretions and contact with the contaminated surface.
In the first hours of the manifestation of the disease, those affected generally suffer from high fever, headaches, body aches, muscle and/or joint pain and above all physical fatigue. After this phase, a blistering eruption and crusting, as well as itching may appear about 48 hours later. The incubation period of the disease varies from 5 to 21 days.