The Morocco faces an accelerated spread of measles. With more than 25,000 cases recorded since September 2023, this contagious disease worries specialists.
With transmission occurring through the air, and symptoms that first affect the respiratory system then the entire body, which can even result in death, measles is more common in children, but also affects adults. .
In Morocco, the alarm bells are already ringing. Mustapha Baitas, spokesperson for the Moroccan government, confirmed “a return of measles” in the country, and reported an “acceleration in the number of cases”, reports the Tunisian media La Presse.
Morocco has had around 120 cases of deaths caused by measles since September 2023, according to the latest statements by the director of the Directorate of Epidemiology and Disease Control under the Moroccan Ministry of Health, reports Al Arabia media.
Measles in Morocco: this is a new variant, believes this specialist
The manager indicated that the evolution of the disease “is not normal”, reports the same source who contacted the specialist in biology and immunology, Professor Abdeldjabar Andaloussi, who for his part evokes an “epidemic” and a “virus mutation”.
The specialist believes that the official declarations in Morocco are “worrying” and that the competent authorities of the country must declare that the spread of this disease has reached the epidemic stage, ensuring that the increase in cases of death caused by measles is caused by a new variant of the virus.
While the government spokesperson Moroccan indicated that “the best solution to fight this type of virus is vaccination”, the specialist believes that the situation requires a therapeutic approach and that vaccination has been overtaken by the evolution of the virus.
-The specialist also notes that autopsies must be carried out on the corpses of people who died from complications linked to the measles virus in order to know the exact causes of death but above all to identify the new variant of the virus.
Morocco did not take WHO warning seriously
Professor Abdeldjabar Andaloussi also estimates that the new variant of measles appeared in Morocco in September 2023, and recalls that the WHO issued a warning to this effect, but that Morocco did not take this warning seriously. seriously, reports Al Arabiya.
The specialist also indicated that the virus has already spread in several regions of Morocco, starting with the region of Souss, in the South, until reaching Tangier, further in the North, while the government had not deployed a strategy effective monitoring.
The epidemic has also crept into Moroccan penitentiary establishments, causing more than 79 cases among prisoners, including 7 minors, two women and a child accompanying his mother, Moroccan authorities indicated.
Furthermore, the doctor and researcher in health policies and systems, Doctor Tayeb Hamdi, recalled that Morocco almost got rid of measles for good, given that the country did not have more than 10 cases per year before 2023.
The comeback of this disease and the mutation of the virus therefore signify the failure of the vaccination policy in Morocco and constitutes a hard blow for the efforts made in recent years by the Moroccan government.
