In a follow-up on the isolated monkeypox case confirmed in Pujehun district in the southern region of Sierra Leone, an Awoko.org report states the 35-year-old farmer has been discharged from the hospital.

A negative stain electron micrograph demonstrates the two forms of the brick-shaped monkeypox virus from a cell culture Image/CDC
A negative stain electron micrograph demonstrates the two forms of the brick-shaped monkeypox virus from a cell culture
Image/CDC

The patient was initially admitted to Pujehun District Government Hospital on 25 March 2017. The patient was not quarantined but isolated at the hospital and treated by “barrier nursing”.

Laura Keenan, WHO Communications Officer, said, “The Pujehun patient and monkeypox are not connected, at all, to the recent deaths and patients in Liberia.”

According to WHO, this was the second sporadic occurrence of monkeypox in the country, with the first one reported in March 2014 in Bo district located in the southern region of the country. Monkeypox is a rare disease that occurs primarily in remote parts of Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.

The disease is transmitted to people from various wild animals, including squirrels, Gambian rats, striped mice, dormice, and primates. The natural history of monkeypox virus, the exact reservoir and how it is maintained in nature call for further studies. Secondary spread of the virus through human-to-human transmission is usually limited.

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