BAGUIO CITY (PIA) —The Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CRDRRMC) calls for collective efforts in public awareness, prevention and mitigation measures against Mpox (monkeypox) after the region recorded its first case of the viral disease.
Office of Civil Defense Regional Director and CRDRRMC Chairperson Albert Mogol made the call during the Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA) meeting on January 21, focusing on the Mpox situation in the region due to the case recorded in January in Baguio City.
Baguio City Health Services Office Chief Dr. Celiaflor Brillantes confirmed the Mpox case involving a 28-year-old male, who has already recovered.
Accordingly, the city government has been conducting contact-tracing, and now intensifying bio-surveillance, monitoring and Mpox information/awareness campaign, Brillantes said.
Mogol called for collective efforts among the RDRRMC members, local DRRMs councils and other stakeholders in providing support to the Department of Health, which takes the lead in prevention and control of Mpox. He also encouraged them to start the Mpox awareness drive within their own families, communities, and workplaces.
Nurse V Clark Dizon of the Department of Health-Cordillera has reported that an Mpox Task Force was created. He also shared the preparedness and actions being taken, as well as the response plan.
As support to DOH, he calls for a unified public awareness campaign, preparation of quarantine and isolation facilities at the LGU level, and intensified surveillance and monitoring, risk communication and community engagement, among other efforts.
Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus and has two recognized clades – Clade I that can cause risks for severe disease, and Clade II, which is milder. What has been detected so far in the Philippines is Mpox Clade II, Dizon said.
Mpox symptoms include skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last for 2-4 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
Mode of transmission is mostly due to close or intimate contact that include sexual contact, kissing, hugging ,cuddling and other activities that include skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual. **JDP/CCD-PIA CAR
