Rospotrebnadzor provides monkeypox test systems to African countries

MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - Professionals from Russia's consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor have visited Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda and distributed Russian-made tests to detect the virus as part of assistance being provided to their African colleagues in the fight against the infectious disease.

"After the outbreak of monkeypox was declared a sanitary and epidemiological emergency, experts from Rospotrebnadzor's leading research organizations became one of the first to arrive in Africa to assist in the fight against the disease. From September 4 to September 13, 2024, a group of epidemiologists, virologists, infectious diseases specialists, and laboratory diagnostics specialists worked in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda," the regulator's press service told reporters.

In particular, Rospotrebnadzor passed on tests for PCR diagnostics of monkeypox virus and similar viruses, which showed their high effectiveness in the field, to the health authorities of African countries.

"In total, five mobile anti-epidemic laboratories and two joint research centers established by Rospotrebnadzor are already operating on the African continent. Monitoring and studies of particularly dangerous infections are being conducted jointly with several countries in the region, including Guinea, Uganda, Burundi, Madagascar, and the Republic of the Congo," it said.

Monkeypox is a rare infectious disease, most common in remote areas of Central and West Africa. Its symptoms include nausea, fever, rash, itching, and muscle pain. In a mild form, the disease usually goes away on its own and lasts from 14 to 21 days.

On August 14, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a public health emergency due to the spread of monkeypox. Rospotrebnadzor said at the time that there was no threat of monkeypox spreading in Russia, and all necessary measures to detect infection were being taken in the country on a systematic basis.