Moscow urges public not to panic about global outbreak of Monkeypox

The Russian national health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, has indicated that the recent global monkeypox outbreak is not cause for concern. According to Anna Popova, the agency's leader, on Russian KP Radio on Tuesday, the ailment is well known to humanity.

According to Popova, no cases of monkeypox have been "imported" into Russia as of yet, and Moscow has a test technique capable of detecting the virus in a patient's sample within hours. She stated that the Russian authorities had put in place sanitary controls and had notified medical personnel of the situation.

"It is vital to be attentive," Popova noted, encouraging clinicians to be on the lookout for specific symptoms that could suggest the illness. According to the Rospotrebnadzor chief, people who have traveled to risk zones and become ill should contact their doctors.

Monkeypox symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, enlarged lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue. A rash typically begins on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.

Rospotrebnadzor, according to Popova, sees "no cause for concern" or a "particularly heightened alertness." According to Popova, European countries have so far faced the virus's "least dangerous" variant. "Its pathogenicity is lesser. It leads to reduced sickness, "Popova elaborated. Furthermore, the head of Rospotrebnadzor claimed that the virus had not undergone significant alterations in comparison to the versions.

"We don't observe mutations," Popova said, adding that the virus "isn't any different than it was before" the pandemic. Russians born before 1980 should also be unconcerned, according to Popova, who says that smallpox immunization was required in the USSR prior to 1980 and may be effective against monkeypox as well.

In recent weeks, monkeypox has been discovered in over a dozen nations, including Europe, Australia, and the United States. Belgium has also become the first country to place the disease under quarantine after three cases were detected on its soil. Following the detection of a single patient with monkeypox about two weeks ago, the United States rushed to purchase 13 million doses of Jynneos, a smallpox vaccine that was approved for use against the virus in 2019.

Last Friday, the World Health Organization held an emergency meeting on monkeypox since the number of likely cases had topped 100. The virus presents little risk to the general public, according to officials in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries.

The majority of monkeypox patients recover in two to four weeks. According to the World Health Organization, the illness has a 3-6 percent death rate.

In contrast, a tabletop simulation event at the 2021 Munich Security Conference portrayed a probable monkeypox outbreak that resulted in 270 million deaths worldwide.