G/Kru Health Official Refutes New Mpox Case

The Grand Kru County Health Team has clarified that the county’s health system has not detected or recorded any case of Monkeypox as is being speculated. “From the records of our surveillance department, we can safely say tentatively from our last week report that Grand Kru does not have any current outbreak of Mpox within the county,” the Head of the County Health Team Dr. Leawille Craig said. Speaking in an interview with the Liberia News Agency (LINA) via telephone on August 28, 2024, Dr. Craig disclosed that the one confirmed case involving Monkeypox that was uploaded on the National Public Health Institute of Liberia website was a case involving a female from Trehn District, Behwan Community between April and May of 2024. “The case reported in Grand Kru is not a new case of Mpox, the county reported case of Mpox between April and May, but that case was managed by our surveillance team and was reported, at which time it was not declare as a public health emergency by the world health governing body, the WHO,” Dr. Craig stated. According to him, the county has recorded cases of Monkeypox before, but since the disease was declared a public health emergency on August 13, 2024 by the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Grand Kru as a county is yet to receive any case  involving the outbreak of the virus. The Grand Kru County Health Officer indicated that they have alerted the surveillance team of the county, stressing that the county is on the alert to contain the virus, if there is any case of Mpox outbreak at the district and community levels. Dr. Craig asserted that as part of the county’s health team’s preparedness plans, they have embarked on citizens engagement initiatives on the prevention of Mpox across the county just in case there is a future outbreak of the disease. The county health officer assured citizens of the Ministry of Health’s quick response and management mechanism in the fight against Mpox but emphasized the need for concerted efforts from all stakeholders within the county. He assured citizens of the robust nature of the county’s response mechanism and further called on the public not to panic. LINA