Victoria Falls stakeholders convene meeting to discuss preventive measures against Mpox

Leonard Ncube – [email protected]
STAKEHOLDERS in Victoria Falls are convening a meeting to discuss preventive measures against Mpox and to develop a coordinated tourism industry approach in the resort city.
Zimbabwe has not recorded any Mpox cases since the recent global outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) recently declared Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHIEC) and a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) respectively.
Victoria Falls being a tourism destination and transit city especially for truck drivers, is conducting the meeting to put in preventative measures.
The meeting is being coordinated by the Victoria Falls City Council, Health, Ministry of Health and Child Care and various Government departments as well as players in the tourism industry.
The civic society is also represented.

Following the outbreak of Mpox, the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe on 17 August 2024 extended solidarity and support to Member States affected by Mpox and directed the Secretariat to convene an urgent meeting of the Ministers of Health to assess the impact of Mpox and facilitate coordinated regional response to control the spread of the disease.
Mpox is a viral infectious disease caused by the Monkey Pox virus, but it is no longer called Monkey Pox, with the new name Mpox to avoid the segregation of monkeys, health authorities have said.
The incubation period is from day 1 to day 21 and the primary symptoms are fever and rash or blisters and is quickly spread through physical contact with an infected species.