'Emphasis is on accurate contact tracing' - NICD scientist on SA monkeypox case

Refilwe Moloto spoke to Dr Jacqueline Weyer, NICD's principal senior medical scientist, on South Africa’s first confirmed case of monkeypox.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says all its efforts are on conducting accurate contact tracing following the confirmation of South Africa’s first monkeypox case on Thursday.

The case involves a 30-year-old male from Gauteng, with no recent travel history.

Speaking to Refilwe Moloto, NICD's principal senior medical scientist - Dr Jacqueline Weyer confirmed that the institute has started the contact tracing process.

“Through contact tracing which has commenced, we hope to identify individuals that are still at risk of developing the disease because of contact with this individual, but also to decipher the route or chain of transmission,’’ explained Weyer.

She added that the emphasis is on conducting accurate case tracing in order to adequately analyse and contain the virus.

Monkeypox, a rare viral infection in humans, has been confirmed in more than 3 000 countries across Europe, the United States of America, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

Weyer explained that the monkeypox virus is not adapted to spread rapidly through humans but infection can still happen, through direct or secondary contact with skin lesions that appear in an infected person.

The most infectious part of the disease is the actual skin lesions, those skin lesions are loaded with the virus... It's through contact, skin-to-skin contact, even sharing linen. Sharing of clothes that obviously rubbed against those lesions - these are all ways the virus can transmit.

Dr Jacqueline Weyer, NICD principal senior medical scientist

It is for everyone's benefit that the virus is brought under control to avoid increased risk to the general public, said the medical scientist.

#Monkeypox spreads through close contact such as kissing, cuddling, or touching parts of the body with monkeypox lesions (wound). The virus is not very contagious and does not spread in the same way as viruses such as flu and COVID-19. Read more here https://t.co/KwTQU8zrIw pic.twitter.com/MU4JZQCsv2

— NICD (@nicd_sa) June 23, 2022

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : 'Emphasis is on accurate contact tracing' - NICD scientist on SA monkeypox case

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