The measures were taken in an effort to keep the landlocked East African country free of the disease that wreaks havoc in its western neighbor, which has become a huge breeding ground for the disease.

Among the precautionary measures, the Ugandan Ministry of Health designated 20 border districts as high-risk areas and initiated a national training program that will enable health workers to make rapid diagnoses in cases of infection with the disease.

In a parallel development, and to avoid panic, the World Health Organization issued a statement the day before to clarify that Mpox “is not a new Covid-19”, in reference to the pandemic that four years ago claimed tens of thousands of lives in the four corners of the globe.

He also urged the pharmaceutical transnationals, the only ones in possession of an effective vaccine against the disease, to coordinate to make it available to low-income countries, those most affected by the outbreak.

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