Health authorities in St James on guard against monkeypox

Health authorities in St James remain on heightened vigilance against monkeypox in the parish.

Medical officer of health for St James Dr Francine Phillips-Kelly today told a meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation that testing conducted on a suspected case came back negative.

Phillips-Kelly says the parish is free of the disease and health workers are committed to keeping it so.

She pointed out that a keen eye is being kept on all ports of entry and all persons who display symptoms.

“We do not have any case of monkeypox in this parish, happily, but we do know that the virus has come. We continue to be vigilant with our surveillance of our ports because we still anticipate that, for the most part, individuals who might be diagnosed will be travelling from territories that do have cases,” said Phillips-Kelly.

Her update follows last week Wednesday's announcement by the Ministry of Health that Jamaica had confirmed one case of monkeypox, with the patient being a man who presented himself to the public health system on July 5, five days after arriving from the United Kingdom.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that can be transmitted from person to person, with symptoms including fever, intense headache, swelling of the lymph nodes, back pain, muscle ache, lack of energy, and/or rash. Symptoms tend to last between two to four weeks.

In addition to monkeypox and COVID-19, Phillips-Kelly told the municipal meeting that the St James Health Department is on the lookout for possible cases of malaria which might enter Jamaica by way of infected persons travelling from territories with documented cases.

- Christopher Thomas

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