MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. There is no need for new restrictive measures in Russia following the confirmation of the first monkeypox case, virologist Anatoly Alshtein, professor of the Gamaleya Central Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told TASS.
"No additional measures are needed, since only one case has been confirmed in the entire country. Even if the incidence will go up <…>, the disease in not lethal. The only thing to be done to prevent it is to avoid contacts with those who feel sick, who have high temperature. It is applicable to any other infection," he said.
According to the experts, there are no preconditions for spreading monkeypox in Russia at this moment. "The first case has been confirmed. Medics are keeping a close eye on it. The patient’s contacts are under supervision. If another case is detected, it will be monitored as well. In other words, it is an infection that can be stopped by the epidemiological method, i.e. through identifying and isolation those infected," he explained.
Russia’s sanitary watchdog said on July 12 that the first monkeypox case had been confirmed in St. Petersburg. The patient is a man who returned from Europe. According to the watchdog, the man has a mild form of the disease.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal (rodents, primate) or with material contaminated with the virus. It symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pains, swollen lymph nodes, feeling tired, and rash. The incubation period is around ten days and the symptoms typically last from two to four weeks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the case fatality ratio ranges from one to ten percent, with the majority of deaths occurring in younger age groups.