* We are aware of the outbreak, and we know that all of them spread fast, but they are preventable and curable
* We want to remind teachers, school administrators, school committees, chiefs, mother groups, religious leaders
* And other stakeholders to play a role in preventing any outbreak and that we should work together to protect learners
By Benedicto Maguda, MANA
The Ministry of Education says it is working closely with the Ministry of Health to prevent cholera and Mpox outbreaks in schools as learners enter the third week of the first term of the 2025/2026 school year.
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In an interview, spokesperson for Ministry of Education, Mphatso Nkuonera said yesterday that they received a report of cholera and Mpox outbreaks in some parts of the country.
In July, the Ministry of Health warned of the Mpox outbreak of Mpox — formerly known as monkey-pox — a disease caused by infection with a virus, known as monkey-pox virus.
“We are aware of the outbreak, and we know that all of them spread fast, but they are preventable and curable,” he said. “We want to remind teachers, school administrators, school committees, chiefs, mother groups, religious leaders, and other stakeholders to play a role in preventing any outbreak and that we should work together to protect learners.”
Nkuonera said the Ministry will continue working with the Ministry of Health and other partners to protect learners from the outbreaks at all costs, saying: “The last time we had CoVID-19 in this country, we closed our schools for the whole term because we took advice from the Ministry of Health.
“We shall continue monitoring the situation and will listen to the Ministry of Health. Whatever they advise, we will do according to such advice.”
Mphatso Nkuonera
Nkuonera thus appealed to parents to take precautionary measures in protecting their children against any possible outbreak as the Ministry of Education continues to monitor the situation.
Health expert, Mphatso Ngulube Chikwaza said there was a need to take all precautional measures, adding that first priority should be adhering to the best hygiene practices in our schools.
“Stakeholders in schools should make sure that water is available so that learners should use it to clean their hands, furthermore, teachers should teach learners to practice hygiene all the time,” she said, adding that overcrowding of learners in most public schools becomes a challenge in disease prevention and control.
He, however, said there is a need to teach learners best hygiene practices such as consistent hand washing: “School administration should make sure that water is available in schools, and this should be a priority so that when we tell learners to wash their hands they should know where to get water.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malawi recorded 53,020 cases of cholera that led to 1,586 deaths in 2022/2023.
Mpox virus is in the same family as the virus that causes smallpox in some African countries and in July, Chief of Health Services, Dr. Mathias Joshua warned that the disease had so far been reported in South Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Liberia and Ghana.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA) in Blantyre in July, the Ministry of Health said they were vigilant with the surveillance to identify the disease at early stages to avoid possible spreading of the disease.
The Ministry activated its emergency operating centres in districts so that they should be able to detect the disease and encourages members of the public to avoid sharing of clothes and beddings with a person showing Mpox disease to prevent transmission.
The Ministry is discouraging people from eating and touching animals that die on their own and sharing of clothes, beddings with any person suspected to have Mpox because despite being transmitted from animals to people but it can also be transmitted from people.
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Mpox presents rash that looks like blisters or sores which may last two to four weeks and may be followed by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain and low energy.
Swollen glands are some of the signs and symptoms of Mpox disease and can affect the face, palms of the hands, soles of the feet, groin genital or anal regions among other parts.
According to WHO website, most cases of Mpox are often found close to tropical rainforests where animals like squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice and different species of monkeys.
Human transmission can be through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surface, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects.
Although the cases of Mpox are not life-threatening and having a vaccine, some people may be more likely to get severely ill including expectant mothers, people with severely weakened immune system and children of under the age of one among others.
Mpox virus was discovered in 1958 and the first human case was recorded in 1970 in what is now the DR Congo, according the website.—Additional reporting by Isaac Jim, MANA
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