LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the expansion of MPOX in Africa It is a global health emergency.He warned that the virus could eventually spread across borders.
The announcement by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came after the UN health agency’s emergency committee met. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday declared MPOX a public health emergency on the continent.
The WHO said Africa has already recorded more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths this year, surpassing last year’s totals.
So far, more than 96% of all cases and deaths have been concentrated in one country, Congo, and scientists are concerned that a new strain of the disease that may be more easily transmitted from person to person is spreading there.
Here’s what we know about MPOX and what can be done to contain it.
What is mpox?
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, was first identified by scientists during an outbreak of a “chickenpox-like” disease among monkeys in 1958. Until recently, most human cases were seen in people in Central and West Africa who had close contact with infected animals.
The virus was confirmed in 2022 transmitted by sex For the first time, MPOX has caused epidemics in over 70 countries worldwide where it had not previously been reported.
Mpox is in the same family of viruses as smallpox, but causes milder symptoms such as fever, chills and body aches. In more severe cases, lesions may appear on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
What is happening in Africa that is causing so much concern?
The number of infected people has increased dramatically. last weekThe Africa CDC reported that MPOX has been detected in at least 13 African countries, a 160% increase in cases and a 19% increase in deaths compared to the same period last year, the agency said.
Earlier this year, Scientists report that a new form of MPOX has emerged in a mining town in Congo that can kill up to 10 percent of people and spread more easily.
Previous MPOX outbreaks involved lesions mainly on the chest, hands, and feet, but the new form of MPOX has milder symptoms and lesions appear on the genitals.
This makes it hard to detect and means people may be unaware they are infected and make others sick, said Dr Placid Mbala Kingebeni, the Congolese researcher who led the study on the new type of MPOX.
The WHO said MPOX had recently been confirmed for the first time in four East African countries – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. All of those outbreaks were linked to the Congo epidemic. Tedros said he was concerned about the further spread of the disease within and beyond Africa.
In Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa, health authorities have reported outbreaks of a less dangerous strain different from MPOX, which spread around the world in 2022 and infected around 100,000 people.
What is the threat to the rest of the world?
Like other infectious diseases, the new type of MPOX identified in Congo can also cross borders, with cases already confirmed in four other East African countries.
On Thursday, Swedish public health officials said The tests identified the first case of the new MPOX variant in an individual who had recently been in Africa and sought medical care in Stockholm.
Officials said the risk to the general public was considered “very low” and they expected sporadic imported cases to continue.
Kamitsuga, the area of Congo where the new form of MPOX was first discovered, is home to a large migratory population that travels across Africa and beyond.
Still, because wealthier countries have the resources to stop MPOX, scientists believe that if a new outbreak linked to Congo is identified, it could be stopped relatively quickly.
Unlike COVID-19 and measles, mpox is not airborne and typically requires close skin-to-skin contact to spread.
What does a state of emergency mean?
The WHO’s emergency declarations are meant to spur aid agencies and countries to act, but so far the global response to them has been mixed.
Africa CDC Director Jean Kaseya said the agency’s public health emergency declaration was intended to “mobilize our organizations, collective will and resources to take swift and decisive action.” He said the rapidly growing number of cases in Africa has been largely ignored, and he called on Africa’s international partners to help.
Dr. Bogma Titanzi, an infectious disease expert at Emory University, said a previous WHO emergency declaration for MPOX had “little to no effect” in getting supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to Africa.
What makes the current epidemic in Africa different from the 2022 epidemic?
During the 2022 global MPOX epidemic, the majority of cases were among gay and bisexual men, and the virus spread primarily through close contact, including sexual activity.
Similar trends have been observed in Africa, but in the Congo, children under the age of 15 now account for more than 70% of MPOX cases and 85% of deaths.
Greg Lamb, Save the Children’s Congo director, said the organization is particularly concerned about the spread of measles in crowded refugee camps in the east, where 345,000 children are “crammed into tents in unsanitary conditions.” He said the country’s health system is already “breaking down” under the strain of malnutrition, measles and cholera.
Emory’s Taitunge said it’s unclear why children in Congo are so disproportionately affected by MPOX: It could be because they are more susceptible to the virus, or it could be due to social factors such as overcrowding or exposure to sick parents, she said.
How can I stop mpox?
The MPOX outbreak, which broke out in dozens of countries in 2022, was largely contained through the use of vaccines and treatments in wealthy countries and by persuading people to avoid risky behaviors. But in Africa, few vaccines or treatments were available.
Marks, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said vaccinations, including against smallpox, a related virus, would probably help.
“We need a large supply of vaccines to vaccinate those most at risk,” he said, adding that this included sex workers, children and adults living in hotspots.
Congolese authorities have requested 4 million doses of the vaccine, mainly for young children, but have not yet received them, said Chris Kashita Osako, coordinator of Congo’s monkeypox task force.
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Associated Press writer Christina Malkia in Kinshasa, Republic of the Congo contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
