There are no cases of monkeypox imported to Belarus. But Belarus is ready for the scenario, when the virus can be brought into the country.
The decision-making scheme is ready and worked out for such a case. Moreover, today we have a 100% possibility to diagnose the presence of the disease in a patient. Back in 2022, Belarus developed a set of reagents, allowing to diagnose smallpox in monkeys.
Pavel Semizhon, head of the laboratory of biotechnology and immunodiagnostics of especially dangerous infections of the RNPC of Epidemiology and Microbiology:
“The kit includes two PCR mixtures. One allows identification of all types of monkeypox pathogens. The second mixture allows identification of the West African type of the virus. The research is done in Pi 3, Pi 4 labs, which is the maximum biosafety level. It takes about 3-4 hours - compounding nucleic acid and staging the reaction itself.”
On August 14, WHO declared an outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a public health emergency of international concern.
