The island of Barbados is the latest Caribbean country to confirm a case of monkeypox within its borders.
The case is a Barbadian national in his 30s who presented himself to the Sir Winston Scott Polyclinic last week with symptoms of a progressive rash, body pains, and fever.
An official statement on the matter issued by Barbados’ Minister for Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill said that the man had only recently returned to Barbados ahead of visiting the polyclinic, and that he was immediately tested following an assessment of his recent travel history and clinical manifestations.
This positive result was issued by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory less than 24 hours later.
Asking Barbadians not to panic, Edghill assured them that his ministry has been actively monitoring the global monkeypox situation and is fully prepared to handle this development.
The Minister hopes that the announcement of this case will have a similar effect as was seen with the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, and asked the Barbadian public for the same level of cooperation in the ongoing management of the monkeypox health issue.
At Least two other Caribbean countries, namely Jamaica and Saint Lucia have made similar announcements in recent weeks, as over 9,000 cases have already been confirmed globally.
The World Health Organisation announced last week that it will convene a second emergency meeting in the coming days to determine if monkeypox should be considered a global health threat.