Jamaica’s first Monkeypox patient flees from quarantine through a bathroom window with a waiting car, sparking a nationwide manhunt for him…
• A search is now underway for the patient who is Jamaica’s first confirmed case of monkeypox who has reportedly fled the health facility where he had been put in isolation pending his recovery.
• According to the Jamaican Ministry of Health and Wellness, it received a report that sometime after 12:00 pm on Saturday – the patient, who presented to the public health system on July 5, having arrived in Jamaica some five days earlier from the United Kingdom – fled through a bathroom window of the facility in a waiting car.
“The police have been called in and are investigating. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the police immediately,” the ministry said.
Monkeypox is a viral disease that can be transmitted from person to person. It is therefore important that anyone with knowledge of the patient’s whereabouts contact the police so that he can be returned to isolation, pending the resolution of his illness,” added the Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton.
Symptoms of Monkeypox include fever, intense headache, swelling of the lymph nodes, back pain, muscle ache, lack of energy, and/or rash. Person-to-person spread occurs through: direct contact with monkeypox skin lesions or scabs; contact with clothing or linens (such as bedding or towels) used by an infected person; and coughing or sneezing.
(Courtesy the Jamaica Observer)
