Health ministry announces no Mpox cases detected in Turkey

The Health Ministry announced that no cases of Mpox have been detected in Turkey and that there has been no need for any restrictions or additional measures yet. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global public health emergency due to the virus previously known as monkeypox.

Thursday August 15 2024 01:55 pm

Duvar English

The Health Ministry on Aug. 15 reported that there have been no cases of Mpox disease in Turkey, and no restrictions or additional measures have been deemed necessary at this time.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Aug. 14 declared a global public health emergency due to the Mpox virus, also known as monkeypox. Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu made a statement on the current epidemic and said, “We are following the developments regarding monkeypox and Covid-19. However, we do not have any alarm situation at the moment.”

The last wave of the infectious disease, which started in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spread rapidly to neighboring countries, has killed at least 524 people according to WHO. The current outbreak has been said to be more worrying than previous ones as it was associated with a new variant of the virus.

“The necessary work is being carried out by our Ministry, and the process is being monitored sensitively with our scientific committee and health infrastructure,” the Turkish ministry stated.

The mpox virus is transmitted by rodents such as mice and squirrels or infected individuals. The first symptoms may appear in 5 to 21 days after contracting the virus. The virus usually causes high fever, head, back and muscle pain, swelling of the lymph nodes, fatigue, chills, chills and blisters on the skin similar to chickenpox.

In 2022 outbreak, Turkish authorities detected five cases.