MONROVIA – The National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) has released its laboratory test result from specimens collected at the prison cells in Greenville, Sinoe County and the report states that there is no confirmed case of monkey pox as suspected and reported in public.
In a press release which is in the possession of The Liberian Investigator, NPHIL indicated that upon hearing the report of a suspicious Mpox-like disease said to have begun among inmates at the Southeastern County, a team of investigative medical team was dispatched and charged with the responsibility to conduct surveillance, collect specimens and report same to the national reference laboratory (NRL) in Charlesville, Margibi County for testing to verify as to whether or not any Mpox case was confirmed present among the detainees.
“The inmates we tested do not have Mpox, and this is based on our evaluation and investigation using molecular testing such as real-time PCR; we will also perform gene sequencing here at the National Laboratory to search for any related pathogens or infectious agents that could be hiding in the background,” Dr. Dugbeh Chris Nyan said.
Dr. Nyan is NPHIL’s Director General and he is an infectious disease scientist with proven records of involvement in not only providing education for preventive measures but also developing scientifically accepted care giving tools and products, especially during the outbreak of the contagious Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in 2014 and the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
“The test results have demonstrated negative for Monkeypox virus infection and inmates suspected to have been affected have since been isolated and are undergoing further clinical evaluation for other suspected skin diseases which should be confirmed by dermatologists (the doctors that specialize in skin diseases),” NPHIL’s DG added.
He emphasized that NPHIL also recently received reports of similar cases of pox-like disease among prison inmates in Senje, Bomi County, and the situtaion, like the case in Sinoe, is being investigated by the national public health agency by using molecular diagnostic tests, and specimens have been collected from those inmates and are undergoing testing at the national reference laboratory (NRL).
“In the wake of NPHIL’s ongoing response in Liberia to the global Mpox outbreak declared by the Africa-Center for Disease Control, and WHO, ample public health precautions and proactive measures are promptly implemented so as to contain and prevent possible community transmission of the Monkeypox virus from person-to-person,” Nyan noted.
He called on the general public to remain calm as NPHIL is doing everything possible to to help provide more awareness for the good of all and people should trust and rely on the agency for accurate information.
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