Moroccan authorities are calling on monkey owners to participate in their census, vaccinate them and keep them away from tourists.
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Will the magical Place Jamâa El-Fna be deprived of its famous monkeys? After the registration of suspected cases of monkeypox, reported by the Ministry of Health, the Moroccan authorities intend to anticipate the transmission of the disease. The tourist city of Marrakech has decided to identify the monkeys of Place El-Fna. According to the local press, the authorities of the ocher city urged the animators of the Halqa (street shows) to vaccinate their monkeys, “especially since the famous square is full of tourists”. In addition, they forbid them to let tourists touch the monkeys. “The threat of a second confinement, after that linked to the Covid-19 pandemic hovers over the world, including Morocco”, is alarmed on a daily basis Al Akhbarquoted by 360.ma.
The Ministry of Health has published a “surveillance and response plan” for the detection and treatment of cases of monkeypox and for health protection. “There is no need to panic today”, explained to Medias24 Abdelfattah Chakib, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Casablanca and specialist in infectious and tropical diseases. His recommendations: “Like all infectious diseases, you must wash your hands, wear a mask in front of a person who has a fever or who is coughing. Above all, do not touch the skin of a sick person who has lesions on the skin without wearing gloves.”
Monkeypox, a less dangerous cousin of smallpox eradicated for about forty years, has made its sudden appearance in recent weeks in countries where it is normally only very rare: Europe and North America.