Macau's legislature passed today an amendment bill to add monkey pox to the special administrative region's list of notifiable diseases.
The Legislative Assembly passed the government-drafted bill in a plenary session held by video link due to the government's COVID-19 prevention and control measures which include curbs on people's movements.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, whose portfolio includes the health sector, presented the bill to the legislature. She pointed out that the government will follow the World Health Organisation's (WHO) guidelines on tackling monkey pox. She also said that the government had no immediate plans to buy monkey pox vaccines but would keep a close eye on the availability of medicines and vaccines for the diseases that can be disfiguring and lethal.
No monkeypox cases have been reported in Macau.
According to the WHO, monkeypox is an illness caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a viral zoonotic infection, meaning that it can spread from animals to humans. It can also spread from person to person.
The most common symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes. This is followed or accompanied by the development of a rash which can last for two to three weeks.
In most cases, according to the WHO, the symptoms of monkeypox go away on their own within a few weeks. However, in some people, an infection can lead to medical complications and even death. Newborn babies, children and people with underlying immune deficiencies may be at risk of more serious symptoms and death from monkeypox.
Complications from monkeypox include secondary skin infections, pneumonia, confusion, and eye problems. In the past, between 1 percent to 10 percent of people with monkeypox have died, the WHO warns.
