The Ministry of Health is on ‘high alert’ in the event of a confirmed Monkeypox virus case in Guyana.
Jamaica and Barbados have confirmed cases of the Monkeypox virus; the first two Caribbean countries to have confirmed Monkeypox cases.
Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony said that his Ministry has been monitoring for the virus.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Narine Singh had issued a memo to all doctors to be on alert for the signs and symptoms of the virus.
One Medical personnel is in Brazil on training to increase the testing capacity at the National Public Reference Laboratory.
“We have sent two persons from the National Public Reference Lab for training. One person went to Jamaica, and they are now trained in using PCR to detect the monkeypox virus,” Dr. Anthony stated.
Monkeypox, according to the Centre for Disease Control, is a rare disease caused by infection with the Monkeypox virus.
Symptoms of Monkeypox can include fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.
A rash that can look like pimples or blisters appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus.
However, Dr Anthony stressed that not all rashes are Monkeypox and as such the Ministry will train medical doctors to understand the signs and symptoms.
“We have also been working to do some CMEs [Continuing Medical Education] for doctors, and very shortly, we’ll be doing a CME to get medical doctors to understand the signs and symptoms of Monkeypox,” he explained.
