Kinshasa — Liberia's Director-General of the National Public Health Institute (NPHIL), Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan, is in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo at an emergency conference of scientists and public health experts from Africa to discuss the current trend of the outbreak of Mpox (Monkeypox) in Africa.

At the Kinshasa Conference this week, African scientists are discussing with focus on the epidemiology of the Mpox outbreak in Africa and the need to tie the outbreak to biomolecular research and development.

In a panel discussion, Dr. Nyan told the conference that "as a start, we in Liberia are placing emphasis on prevention through robust screening for Mpox at points of entries, diagnostics, and sequencing of positive detection, a lead into biomolecular research of clades [types] of Monkeypox virus that may possibly be entering or circulating in our country."

Mpox is an infectious disease that is caused by the Monkeypox virus and is spread by multiple means, including personal contact, (homo)sexual intercourse, and respiratory droplets.

About three weeks ago, Mpox outbreak was declared by the Africa CDC and the WHO as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Since then, countries around Africa have been on the Alert mode.

In Liberia, the NPHIL has since begun strengthening its preparedness, monitoring, and surveillance systems, as well as activating its response system around the country.

"We have activated our Outbreak Preparedness and Response structures very early on as Liberia is not hard hit yet," said the NPHIL Director-General, Dr. Nyan, during the panel discussion at the Kinshasa Conference.

The Kinshasa Conference on Mpox is organized by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) in collaboration with the US National Institute of Health (NIH) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).