Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid said on Saturday in Algiers that the ministry and the services specializing in contagious diseases were “mobilized” to ensure the health protection of citizens in the event of the appearance of monkey pox in Algeria.
In a statement to the press on the sidelines of the 5th medical and surgical days organized at the CHU Salim-Zmirli in El-Harrach devoted to trauma and fractures, Mr. Benbouzid underlined that “the ministry and its medical bodies specializing in contagious diseases are mobilized and ready to face any unforeseen event in the event of the appearance of monkeypox in Algeria”, assuring that “we must not be carried away by the information disseminated on social networks in this regard”.
“No case has yet been recorded in Algeria,” he said, arguing that for Europe “the cases that have appeared are local, although the disease is widespread, particularly in African countries in direct contact with monkeys. “.
Speaking about the vectors of contamination of this “new” disease, the minister indicated that it is a disease which “spreads in the air but does not spread quickly”, affirming that the ministry “has taken the necessary steps, through the installation of a cell to monitor the situation throughout the world”.
The current situation “is not worrying”, he assured, not ruling out the possibility of resorting to “vaccination in the event of an outbreak of the disease in Algeria”.
In addition, the minister said he was satisfied with the stability of the pandemic situation linked to the new coronavirus in Algeria, stressing, however, that despite the absence of cases of death in recent months, the World Health Organization (WHO) “has not yet announced the disappearance of the virus”.
