China News Service, Beijing, September 20 (Wei Xianghui) On the 19th, the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the weekly report "Site Minutes: The First Imported Case of Monkeypox in Mainland China - Chongqing, China, September 16, 2022" (hereinafter referred to as "Site Minutes") pointed out that the monkeypox case reported by Chongqing on the 16th was the first imported monkeypox case in mainland China and was highly homologous to the German virus.

Subsequently, Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, responded to Weibo again in response to the trend of the monkeypox epidemic and prevention methods.

Screenshot of the weekly report of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Image source: Official website of China CDC

Chongqing reports monkeypox cases highly homologous to German virus

　　According to the "Site Minutes" released by China CDC, the case is a 29-year-old Chinese man who was in Germany from September 2 to 8, then went to Spain, returned to Chongqing on the 14th, and was isolated in the local area with new coronary pneumonia isolation point.

He reported that he had clinical manifestations similar to monkeypox, and was subsequently identified as a suspected case of monkeypox by the Chongqing CDC.

　　After testing, the monkeypox virus in the specimen of the above case belongs to the B.1 branch of West Africa, which is highly homologous to the German strain collected on June 21, and is determined to be the first imported monkeypox case in mainland China.

　　According to the news from the press conference on the prevention and control of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic in Chongqing on the 17th, the close contacts of the case have all implemented quarantine medical observation measures.

According to the national "Monkeypox Prevention and Control Technical Guidelines (2022 Edition)", the isolation medical observation period is 21 days.

　　In addition, all close contacts have been tested for monkeypox nucleic acid, and the results are all negative.

According to the comprehensive research and judgment of national and municipal experts, the case entered Chongqing and underwent closed-loop transfer and centralized isolation. There was no social activity trajectory, and the risk of epidemic transmission was low.

Data map: The hands of a monkeypox virus patient.

Wu Zunyou: There will be no monkeypox epidemic in mainland China in the near future

　　On the 19th, Wu Zunyou posted on his personal Weibo (@wuzunyouChinaCDC) that although there will be no monkeypox epidemic in mainland China in the near future, the possibility of sporadic cases is still relatively large.

　　He said that there is no locally transmitted monkeypox infection in mainland China, and the epidemic is mainly imported from abroad. The "foreign import prevention" measures for new crown prevention and control have played an important role in preventing the importation of monkeypox.

　　The World Health Organization divides the global risk of monkeypox into three risk levels: high, medium, and low, and the global overall classification is medium risk. Among them, two regions in Europe and the Americas are at high risk, and three in Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia. The region is at medium risk, and the Western Pacific region, where mainland China is located, is at low risk.

With the decline of monkeypox outbreaks in two high-risk regions of the Americas and Europe, the pressure on China's foreign import prevention has been relieved.

　　On the 17th, Wu Zunyou once explained on Weibo that the incubation period of monkeypox is 5-21 days, and most of them are 6-13 days.

The entry "7+3" quarantine measures for the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic can block most of the imported monkeypox cases, but those with an incubation period of more than 7 days may enter the society.

The data picture shows that in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, medical staff vaccinate people against monkeypox virus.

Beware of asymptomatic infections

　　Wu Zunyou pointed out that the most likely source of infection to bring monkeypox virus into China is those infected with monkeypox virus who are in the incubation period (especially more than 7 days), or those infected with asymptomatic monkeypox virus.

　　According to media reports, in May this year, a man in his 20s from Northern California was diagnosed with monkeypox because of small blisters on his lips, hands and back.

　　The patient had no fever, malaise, weakness, pain, or other symptoms typical of the disease.

He also doesn't know when or how he got infected.

He said he hadn't touched anyone with monkeypox or related symptoms.

Doctors found the virus in his throat, but he had no respiratory symptoms; he also had the virus in his rectum, but he had no pain or pimple symptoms.

Upon diagnosis, the patient may be atypical or asymptomatic with monkeypox infection.

　　Wu Zunyou pointed out that the most likely scenario of local monkeypox virus transmission will be similar to the main mode of transmission in Europe and the United States, which is caused by foreigners or returnees from overseas monkeypox endemic areas who are mild cases of monkeypox or returnees. Asymptomatic infected persons, who have similar sexual orientations and lifestyles in China, have close skin-to-skin contact that causes monkeypox to spread; Asymptomatic infected persons cause the infection of family members in the daily contact of family life.

　　Wu Zunyou said that at present, there is no community transmission in mainland China, and the surface of objects has not been contaminated with monkeypox virus.

Developing and maintaining good hygiene habits will play a positive role in preventing monkeypox.

Good hand hygiene can prevent respiratory infectious diseases such as the new crown, dysentery and other gastrointestinal infectious diseases, and can also prevent the spread of monkeypox; pay attention to the use of public toilets to prevent skin infections and monkeypox.

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