Saurimo - The health authorities in Angola’s Lunda-Sul province continue to step up epidemiological surveillance measures on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to prevent monkeypox cases from entering the national territory.
Monkeypox is a disease that spreads rapidly, with mild symptoms, transmitted mainly through direct contact with skin lesions and is currently endemic in certain regions of Africa, close to the area in which Angola is located.
The border with the DRC, a country struggling with the disease, is a kind of weak link in the efforts to contain a possible spread in Angola, forcing the authorities to take a series of measures to guarantee health security along the border area.
Speaking to ANGOP on Thursday, the director of the Provincial Health Office, Viegas de Almeida, said that two professionals had been deployed along the border posts to monitor DRC citizens entering the country.
Almeida said the entry of any type of meat from the DRC is prohibited, as well as the acquisition of material without certification from the provincial health authorities, an action that has the involvement of the defense and security agencies.
He stressed that all the health units in the province are prepared to deal with cases of monkeypox, with a greater incidence in Chiluage commune and Muconda municipality, as bordering regions with the DRC.
The local authorities, he continued, are carrying out awareness campaigns in the communities, giving instructions on measures to prevent the endemic disease, having ensured that the province has not registered any suspected cases so far. EM/JW/HD/TED/AMP
