Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu made flash statements about the Monkeypox disease in a live broadcast. Speaking about the Monkeypox cases that have been occupying the agenda of the world and Turkey, Minister Memişoğlu answered questions such as “Will it come to Turkey? Do you see anything risky? What will we do if a monkeypox case comes to Turkey?”
Here are the highlights from Minister Memişoğlu’s statements:
“In fact, such epidemics can occur from time to time, it is the reality of the world. There were in the 1800s, in the 1900s, and there are today, as you know, the world experienced one of the biggest ones since the end of 2019. Especially after Covid-19, naturally, even if such epidemics are not endemic or pandemic, people are worried.
Of course, this virus is not a virus like Covid, I want them to know that. It is not an RNA virus, it is a DNA virus. What do you mean? So this is a different type of virus. Scientists do not think it will be more aggressive. First of all, that. Secondly, this is a disease that has been in the region, in the Congo, for 20 years. It is not a new disease.
Especially in July 2022, this disease is becoming widespread there, in a regional place in Congo. It is a type of disease that is transmitted especially by long-term contact, by being side by side for a long time or by sexual intercourse. And it is transmitted by contact. It is not transmitted through breathing like Covid. And because it is transmitted by contact, its prevalence usually remains localized. In fact, in July 2022, the World Health Organization, just like today, makes an emergency determination and declares there. And this emergency declaration continues from May 2022 to May 2023.
At that time, there were a few cases in Europe and here. But we should not think of this as an epidemic. It is an endemic disease. What we call endemic is a regional disease. Of course, it can be seen here and there in other centers of the world.
“NOT SEEN IN TURKEY IN 2024”
Now, this disease is seen again in the same region in 2024 with a different version. This disease is a type of disease that is normally seen in that region. They are all the same virus. But viruses are living organisms that change themselves. Just as we saw with Covid, another version turns into another type. Because they can be affected by the immune system against them and change in a way that they cause disease again. Or, on the contrary, they can start not causing disease at all.
Therefore, this different type is a disease transmitted by close contact in the same way in 2024 and it should be in contact for a long time. When we sat down and talked with scientists, this was not seen in Turkey in 2024. In other words, neither our scientists nor our infrastructure have diagnosed this latest monkeypox disease in any of our countries so far.
I want to say it specifically because sometimes people try to announce things they want to believe in, but we don’t have it yet, and I hope we don’t have it either.
“WE HAVE MADE ALL OUR PLANS AND PREPARATIONS”
We formed our scientific board after this emergency and together with the scientific board, how should this disease be dealt with if it comes to our country? What precautions will we take before it comes? What will we do if it comes? We have made all our plans and preparations regarding these. This scientific board is basically a guide to combating this. The guide to combating the disease. The World Health Organization actually says this in its announcement. Be prepared, but there is no clarity on whether it will spread or not because this disease generally remains localized in Africa.
Of course, there will be some in other places, but the possibility of it being in the form of an epidemic, which we call endemic, is as far as scientists say, everyone states that it will not be like Covid, because Covid is a disease that can spread very quickly and become widespread, as it is transmitted entirely through respiratory tract, not by contact.
Also, RNA virus is a more aggressive type of virus. But at the same time, all scientists in the world do not expect a pandemic like COVID regarding this disease. They do not think there will be a pandemic. Of course, in health, two plus two never equals four. That is why it is not spoken clearly. The society also needs to know this. Because the structure of that virus can change in an instant, it can transform into another virus. Or another virus can cause an epidemic. But there is one thing, we are ready for this as a health system. We are prepared. At the same time, we have started to take all our controls, all our precautions.
IS THERE A VACCINE?
It is said that there is a vaccine, it protects 85%, 85-90%. But no one has clear information about the latest version at the moment.
WHAT MEASURES SHOULD CITIZENS TAKE?
No, there are no precautions at the moment. Don’t panic. These are not things that can be managed with panic and fear, but with precautions and planning. We are not going to make all hell break loose in Turkey because one of them popped up. How are we going to isolate it, how are we going to prevent it, how are we going to isolate it?
“We have all the preparations for this. But right now, there is no diagnosis of any disease related to the latest version of the virus in our country. I especially want him to know this.”