China Guards against Monkeypox Disease

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 26, 2003

China Guards against Monkeypox Disease

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China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) issued a notice Wednesday, requiring all quarantine departments to take strict measures to prevent the entry of monkeypox.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), the United States had reported 81 suspect and possible cases of monkeypox by June 17 in six states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio.

People from the above-mentioned areas must declare immediately to quarantine departments if they have symptoms like fever, headache, muscle ache, rash, and enlarged lymph nodes, said the declaration from the AQSIQ, which prohibited entry of some animalsincluding marmots and squirrels.

Containers, cargo and luggage shall be examined strictly to ensure they carry no rodents. Quarantine institutions and health care centers will provide health care services and the latest information on the disease for people leaving for the United States.

According to the CDC, monkeypox is a rare viral disease that isfound mostly in the rainforest countries of central and west Africa. The disease is called "monkeypox" because it was first discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958. Blood tests of animals in Africa later found evidence of monkeypox infection in various rodent species. The virus was recovered from an African squirrel which may be the natural host. Laboratory studies showed that the virus could also infect rats, mice and rabbits.

In 1970, monkeypox was identified as the cause of a rash illness in humans in remote African locations.

The symptoms of monkeypox in humans are similar to those of smallpox, but usually milder. Unlike smallpox, monkeypox causes swollen lymph nodes. The incubation period of monkeypox is about 12 days and the illness begins with fever, headache, muscle aches,backache, swollen lymph nodes, a feeling of exhaustion and rash.

People can get monkeypox from an infected animal through a biteor direct contact with the infected animal's blood, body fluids orlesions. Currently, there is no proven, safe treatment for monkeypox and in Africa, monkeypox is fatal in as many as 10 percent of cases.

However, the CDC is recommending that persons at threat of contracting monkeypox should receive a smallpox vaccination to protect against monkeypox.

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