Health authorities testing another suspected monkeypox case

Health authorities are investigating another suspected case of monkeypox in Barbados.

A senior health official confirmed to Nation News that the individual presented last night and has a travel history, but gave no further details.

Top level officials from the Ministry of Health & Wellness, including the minister, Ian Gooding-Edghill, are presently in a meeting discussing the matter.

Health authorities said the previous suspected case of monkeypox in the island was negative.

The test was conducted by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory, which now has the capacity to do such diagnostic testing, a development health officials said was very significant and testimony to the significant effort being put into boosting Barbados’ public health capacity.

Previously, samples from two other suspected cases were sent to the lab of the Caribbean Public Health Agency in Trinidad for testing, and both also came back negative.

The risk posed by monkeypox is low, and Barbados has recorded no confirmed cases of the virus to date.

Monkeypox is a rare disease that comes from the same family of viruses that causes smallpox, which the World Health Organisation declared eradicated around the globe 42 years ago.

In general, monkeypox does not spread easily between people, and it is transmitted through prolonged close contact, including direct contact with an infected person’s respiratory droplets, bodily fluids, or sores.

Monkeypox is typically milder than smallpox, and it can cause fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes, and lesions all over the body.

(AR)