The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States of America, has deployed a team of biologists and epidemiologists to Africa to track and investigate the origin of monkey pox, a rare but infectious viral disease currently ravaging many parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
The visit, according to the lead researcher, Jeff Dotty, biologists, Clint Morgan and Jennifer McQuiston, was initiated by the Congolese government, which wanted the agency to help train their local scientists.
Monkey pox is on the US Government list of pathogens, such as anthrax and Ebola, with the greatest potential to threaten human health as there is no cure.
According to the Washington Post, the international experts will be working with a local team to track the spread of disease during an outbreak with the aim of stopping it.
The CDC has also raised the alarm over rising cases of animal-borne diseases due to migration.
It is not only in Nigeria that outbreaks of monkeypox and human cases of infection have been reported. Other cases have been reported in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo Republic, the Central African Republic and Cameroon.
