Health officials in Guinea have reported the country’s first confirmed case of Monkeypox, marking a new chapter in the virus’s spread across the region.
The National Health Security Agency (ANSS) announced on September 2 that the case was detected three days earlier.
The patient, a 7-year-old girl, hails from Koyamah in Macenta Prefecture, a region previously known for the 2014-2015 West African Ebola outbreak.
The young patient was first seen at a local health facility on August 30, and samples sent to a virology research center in Guéckédou confirmed the presence of the Monkeypox virus.
Prior to this, Guinea had recorded nine suspected cases of Monkeypox, also known as Mpox, as of August 26.
With this confirmation, Sierra Leone remains the only country in the Mano River Union yet to report a case of the virus. Both the Africa CDC and the World Health Organization have declared Monkeypox a public health emergency.
Sierra Leonean health authorities have reiterated that they have a robust surveillance system in place, aiming to prevent the virus’s entry into the country or swiftly control any potential outbreaks.
