The Department of Health said Sunday it has been preparing for the monkeypox virus ever since an uptick in cases was reported in other countries in May 2022.
The World Health Organization declared monkeypox – which has affected nearly 16,000 people in 72 countries – to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the highest alarm it can sound. Monkeypox, so called because it was first discovered in monkeys, is related to the deadly smallpox virus, which was eradicated in 1980, but is far less severe.
The strain currently circulating outside Africa is the milder of the two known versions.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said there is no reported case of monkeypox in the Philippines yet and the government is doing everything it can to prevent it from entering the country.
“Up to now, there has been no finding in the Philippines that fits the definition of a suspect monkeypox case. The clinical presentation is often explained by other diseases that look like monkeypox, but is not the same,” she said.
She said government preparations were all aligned with WHO’s list of temporary recommendations, which include aggressive information, communication, and educational campaigns about the disease in coordination with other relevant government offices and private partners.
“Consistent with WHO recommendations, the DOH has been carefully communicating the risk of monkeypox transmission along with other pertinent facts about its causative agent and clinical presentation.
DOH emphasizes across all its guidelines and advisories that any individual can get monkeypox,” Vergeire said.
She said they have been holding online town halls and meetings with health care workers, DOH regional offices, and local health officials in the past weeks to educate and help them detect and stop the virus from spreading.
“The DOH is currently working with local civil society organizations, community-based groups, social hygiene clinics and advocates to properly communicate the risk of monkeypox transmission among certain population groups without stigma,” she added.
“This is consistent with the evidence that anyone can get monkeypox, and we must all work together to prevent not just the disease but also stigma that may cause undetected transmission,” Vergeire said.
Ninety-eight percent of reported cases “are among men who have sex with men (MSM) – and primarily those who have multiple recent anonymous or new partners,” Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s technical lead for monkeypox, told a press conference last week.
They are typically of young age and chiefly in urban areas, according to the WHO.
Just like the minimum public health standards for COVID-19, measures to prevent the transmission of the monkeypox virus include wearing the best-fitted mask, ensuring good airflow, keeping hands clean, and observing physical distance, the DOH said.
The DOH noted that the smallpox vaccine has been proven to be “85% effective” in preventing monkeypox.
In June, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was set up by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to detect possible monkeypox virus cases in the country.
As cases of monkeypox were rising around the world in May, the DOH quickly convened the Philippine Inter-agency Committee on Zoonosis (PhilCZ).
Members of the PhilCZ include the DOH, the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and their respective agencies.