Cayman’s molecular biology laboratory now has the capacity to test for monkeypox, health officials have said.
So far, no reports of monkeypox have been confirmed in Cayman. Samples from a young patient with chickenpox symptoms, which can be similar to monkeypox, were sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) laboratory in Trinidad early this month, but the results of that test have not been returned yet, according to a report from Cayman’s Public Health Department issued on 15 June.
On 1 June, in a statement about the sample being tested by CARPHA, Public Health officials in Cayman said they had sent the sample to the lab in Trinidad “out of an abundance of caution, to be investigated for the monkeypox virus”.
Following contact tracing, it was found that a number of others who had been in contact with the young patient also had been diagnosed with chickenpox.
Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton said at the time, “We want to further reassure the public that they can prevent the spread of the chickenpox and monkeypox virus by practicing good hand hygiene, wearing masks, and avoiding contact with the lesions of any person who has a new rash and raised temperature.”
The Compass has reached out to Public Health to ascertain if samples from the young patient had been tested in the local lab, and had subsequently been sent to the CARPHA facility for confirmation, but has not received a response.
Monkeypox has been circulating in countries where it is not endemic.
It is caused by the monkeypox virus, and closely related to the viruses that cause cowpox and smallpox. While symptoms resemble chickenpox, the fluid-filled lesions are larger and accompanied by high fever and swollen glands.
Between 1 Jan. and 15 June, a total of 2,103 cases of monkeypox, including one death, had been confirmed across 42 countries where it is not endemic, according to the World Health Authority.
Chickenpox reports
Chickenpox is now becoming relatively rare in Cayman, compared to previously, with only sporadic cases being reported in recent years.
According to a statement from Public Health, in response to questions from the Compass on the prevalence of chickenpox, over the past decade the most cases the islands have seen in a single year was 52.
In 1998, there were 732 reported cases of chickenpox, and 571 in 1999. Last year, 10 cases were reported, and 12 were confirmed in 2020.
As of 1 June this year, 10 cases had been reported.
This was before a group of nine Cubans being held at the Customs and Border Control detention centre in George Town were transferred to the Breakers Civic Centre on 5 June, after some of them were diagnosed with chickenpox.
According to a statement from Public Health to the Compass last week, the cases at the detention centre “are still being investigated and samples have been taken for confirmation of chickenpox, and may be sent to reference laboratory for confirmation”.
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