Will Belize acquire Monkey Pox Vaccines considering Emerging Variant?

Recently, the World Health Organization announced that a new variant of Monkey Pox was identified in Africa, however, according to the Ministry of Health, none of the variants have been detected in Belize. Since the 2022 outbreak of the disease in the country, the ministry has kept an eye out for a possible reemergence in Belize. We spoke with Russell Manzanero, Director of the Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health, about the possibility of acquiring vaccines in country.

 

Russell Manzanero, Director, Epidemiology Unit, MOHW

“It is a concern. August fourteenth, WHO did declare it a public health emergency of international concern. Mainly because of the increase of cases within Africa. If you do understand MPOCS is, has different clades. Different variants. We have clade one and two. When we had the first outbreak in 2022, which basically affected globally, we did see that scenario was based on clade 2. Now that we’re seeing this increase of cases within Africa, that’s a different clade, that’s clade 1b. It has been sparking some interest there because of the outbreak of cases, especially among adults and children. And the concern there is that it is no longer a sexual mode of transmission, but now it has been moved now towards a more direct contact between individuals. Of course, the concern of why it became a public health emergency was because of the different limitations that you might see in Africa. Of course, you look at the impact may have on the general population. You look at what the health system in existence is there. So definitely with movement with people, then definitely you can have that potential spread to other parts of the world.”

 

Reporter

“In terms of vaccination are there vaccines available? What’s the likelihood and possibility of Belize actually getting?”

 

Russell Manzanero

“I am certain that our management is looking at that option along with PAH on WHO. But definitely before you start looking at vaccination procedures, you want You want to look at the impact it’s having on different countries. The availability is limited. So right now, they will start to look at the concerns within Africa. They will start to target that area. And if they can control it in those points, then of course, transmission is lowered.”