Moroccan Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb outlined his ministry’s plan to deal with the monkeypox outbreak this Monday in the House of Representatives.
The official assured that this disease does not have the same spreading capacity as the COVID-19, but maintained that vigilance and early testing are necessary for those who experience the virus-associated symptoms.
The current ministry’s plan has four phases. First of all, the ministry will undertake special training for health professionals, detailing how to diagnose and treat the disease.
Second, the Ministry plans to expand laboratories’ capacities to diagnose the disease from collected samples, considering how as of this date, only four laboratories are capable of properly diagnosing a monkeypox infection.
The third phase of the Ministry’s plan concerns the management of suspected cases, while the last pertains to the separation of infected persons from individuals they have been in contact with.
Morocco is currently following the UK’s protocol for dealing with positive monkeypox cases, as it is the country with the highest number of confirmed cases so far.
The British system separates contact cases into three “risk levels,” depending on the type of contact they’ve had with an infected patient.
If a person’s infection is confirmed, the optimal method is home quarantine for a period of three weeks while on prescribed medication.
Hospitalization is exclusive to critical cases, in case the virus develops into a disease, potentially harming parts of the body and vital organs such as the brain, lungs, or eye.
The Minister highlighted that although the transmission rate of the virus is low, as it can’t be transmitted through air such as COVID-19, monkeypox does not have a specific cure. Rather, the virus gradually clears from the body after a three week-infection period. However, the official maintained that vigilance is required.
Morocco detected the first domestic case of monkeypox following an outbreak in neighboring Europe. The patient was an incoming air traveler, and is reported to be in good health. Cases that have been in contact with the patient have shown no symptoms and have been under quarantine since the until case was confirmed to be positive.
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