Martin Endjala
The Rundu District Hospital has reported a suspected case of Mpox in a two-year-old girl.
Ida Mendai, the regional health director of Kavango East, confirmed this development.
“Yes, we have a suspected case of Mpox, a two-year-old girl. But so far everything is under control while we wait for results from South Africa. It is just a suspected case. It’s not confirmed yet,” she said.
According to Mendai, the little girl is currently confined to isolation facilities and under observation while the hospital awaits test results.
Mendai added that the patient came from Angola.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services spokesperson, Walters Kamaya, said that he has not received any reports of any suspected Mpox cases from the Kavango East region.
“I have not received such reports. We just want to caution the public not to panic, and when we do receive reports of a positive test for Mpox, we will inform the public. But as of now, we have not received any positive cases of Mpox,” he said.
The ministry announced on Tuesday that 18 patients in public and private hospitals may have the virus’ symptoms.
However, 15 patients tested negative, and the three are awaiting results.
Kamaya said the ministry monitors all ports of entry and has plans to handle cases where Mpox is found anywhere in the country.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the ministry, it said Namibia’s health emergency mechanism is more than ready to deal with any possible outbreak of Mpox.
With 25 isolation facilities out of 36 hospitals countrywide made ready for such a scenario.
The ministry also stated that it is repurposing isolation facilities at 11 hospitals to accommodate Mpox cases should the need arise.
This is because the isolation facilities used for COVID-19 were repurposed to provide other healthcare services.
Public health physician and biotech consultant in global health at Brownstone Institute
David Bell explained that Mpox is caused by a virus thought to normally infect African rodents such as rats and squirrels.
He said it is fairly frequently passed to and between humans.
“In humans, its effects range from very mild illness to fever and muscle pains to severe illness with its characteristic skin rash and sometimes death. Different variants, called ‘clades,’ produce slightly different symptoms. It is passed by close body contact, including sexual activity, and the WHO declared a PHEIC two years ago for a clade that was mostly passed by men having sex with men,” he said.
