The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the rapid spread of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, which can be transmitted between people and from infected animals through close contact, including touching, kissing, and sex, as well as via contaminated materials such as sheets, clothing, and needles.
Symptoms include fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
In Africa, approximately 1,400 new mpox cases have been reported in the past week, pushing the total for the year to nearly 19,000—a more than 100% increase compared to last year.
The current outbreak has resulted in over 500 deaths, according to the Africa CDC.
This surge has created an urgent need for vaccines, with health officials scrambling to secure doses amid a significant shortfall.
Kaseya, a health official, emphasized the critical need for vaccines, noting that while nearly 200,000 doses are becoming available, at least 10 million doses are required.
The high cost of the vaccine, estimated at around $100 per dose, poses a significant challenge for many African countries.
Support has been pledged by the European Union and Danish vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic, with additional offers from Japan and the United States.
The WHO’s recent declaration of a global health emergency is the second such alert in two years, following the global outbreak of mpox clade II from July 2022 to May 2023.
The current outbreak is driven by clade I, which is associated with more severe disease, and the subtype clade Ib, which is relatively new.
Despite the heightened global alert, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge reassured that mpox is “not the new Covid,” urging for a coordinated global response to manage the outbreak.
Kluge emphasized that while further research on clade Ib is needed, its transmission can be controlled.
“Mpox is not the new Covid,” Kluge said, noting that controlling the disease is possible. He stressed the importance of a unified effort, especially in Africa, to tackle mpox effectively.
In recent developments, Argentina has quarantined a cargo ship after a crew member displayed symptoms of mpox, and cases have been reported in travelers from Africa in the Philippines and Thailand.
Source-CNN
