In an announcement reminiscent of Botswana’s tough restrictions on containing the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the landlocked country has said it will be implementing “surveillance” checks for the Mpox virus.
This morning, it is reported from Botswana that Health Minister Dr Edwin Dikoloti has announced measures to protect the country against the highly infectious disease also known as ‘monkeypox’.
It is understood that screening for Mpox will be done at the country’s two main airports, Sir Seretese Khama International in Gaborone and at Maun International which serves the Okavango region.
Land borders on main trade routes that are affected as of Sunday, 19 August, include the Kazungula One-stop Border Post with Zambia in the north-east, Botswana’s Tlokweng, Martin’s Drift and Pioneer Gate crossings into South Africa, and its Mamuno transit into Namibia.
None of Botswana’s land border posts with Zimbabwe, Ramokgwebane and Pandametenga, is affected at this stage.
The Ngoma Border Post into Namibia is also excluded, although disease control at Kazungula includes this crossing into Namibia’s Zambezia panhandle.
Dirt track river accessways such as Pont Drif and Platjan across the Limpopo are also excluded, and border posts such as Ramatlabama and Ramotswa, which could be used for cargo, are also excluded.
Botswana’s decision to screen for Mpox follows the August 13 announcement by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the recent outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was a “public health emergency of continental security”.
The outbreak in the DRC was first detected on May 8 and, since July, has included 20 confirmed cases in South Africa, of which three resulted in fatalities.
Ten cases and one death were reported in Gauteng, nine cases and two deaths in KwaZulu-Natal, and one case in the Western Cape.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases reported that the outbreak in South Africa appeared to involve community transmission, with no reported history of international travel among the cases, indicating local spread.
It is understood that the outbreak in the DRC is more severe, with a notably deadlier variant of Mpox.
This variant has a higher fatality rate, particularly affecting children, and has been linked to both animal-to-human and human-to-human transmission.
