Ignored For Years, Mpox Is Now A Public Health Emergency Of International Concern – Global Issues
NAIROBI, Aug 20 (IPS) – A new and worst mpox epidemic is emerging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and at least one case has been confirmed in nearly 12 African countries, including Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda that were previously unaffected. Suspected cases of mpox in all these countries have exceeded 17,000, which is a significant increase from 7,146 cases in 2022 and 14,957 cases in 2023.
Many of these cases are in the DRC, where, for more than a decade, mpox cases have steadily increased as the disease remains neglected as a rare disease found in remote rural areas of tropical Africa. But the latest move by the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly suggests that this is no longer the case as a deadly type of mpox has recently emerged with the terrifying potential to spread quickly and far.
According to the Director-General of WHO Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the emergence of “a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighboring countries are very worrying. In addition to the outbreak of other pox clade in DRC and other African countries, it is clear that a response is needed coordinated international action to stop this outbreak and save lives.”
Dr. Onyango Ouma, a medical researcher based in Kenya, told IPS that there are two types of mpox virus: Clade I, which causes severe illness and death. Some Clade I outbreaks have killed 10 percent of infected people and are most prevalent in Central Africa, while Clade II, which caused the 2022 global smallpox outbreak, is most prevalent in West Africa.
More than 99.9 percent of those with Clade II survive the disease. The new variant is classified as Clade Ib and can be spread through sexual contact. Recently, on August 15, health officials around the world confirmed the presence of Clade Ib infection in Sweden, indicating that the virus has taken over the world.
This is the new and highly contagious Clade Ib mpox, a grave above the deadly and epidemic Clade I, which has spread to other African countries that were previously untouched by the virus. Kenya is on alert and has opened all 26 public emergency centers across the country, prepared laboratories for mpox testing, and deployed 120 trained personnel to control any possible outbreaks.
More than 250,000 people have been tested so far since Kenya stepped up testing for mpox earlier this month. Two Kenyans, in two different parts of the country are currently being diagnosed with a skin condition similar to mpox rash.
Although there is only one confirmed case of Clade Ib in Kenya so far, experts like Ouma say there may be more cases, especially because of Kenya’s position as a travel destination within the East African community. The mpox case was that of a driver who was traveling from Uganda to the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.
Kenya has 35 entry and exit points or borders with five countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Indian Ocean international waters. To avert a public health crisis, Kenya will accept what has been labeled as the Mpox war kitty raised by donors at a cost of USD 16 million (Kes 2 billion).
Discovered in captive monkeys in 1958, the first case of monkeypox—renamed mpox by the WHO in 2022—was identified in 1970 in the DRC and in 2022, mpox spread worldwide for the first time. Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the virus that causes impox belongs to the same family as the one that causes the rash but is not related to chicken. As a zoonotic disease, it can spread between animals and humans.
Ouma says that although mpox is prevalent in the forested areas of East, Central and West Africa, the unprecedented spread and accessibility of the deadly species of Clade Ib has raised concerns and, mpox is high as a global health concern that deserves international attention. community of scientists and public health actors.
Emphasizing that “not even more than 517 people died of mpox, especially in the DRC this year, which raises the profile of the disease. the public to help increase the diagnosis, prevention, treatment and control of this disease without much success.”
To make this clear, Ouma says the WHO’s announcement that mpox is now a public health emergency of global concern raises the profile of the disease “to the highest level of awareness about issues involving public health risks in other countries, inviting international cooperation.” the answer.”
Director of the WHO in the African region, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “Major efforts have begun in collaboration with communities and governments, and our country’s teams are working on the front lines to help strengthen measures to stop the mpox. With the spread of this virus, we are growing continuously by using joint international measures to support countries to end the outbreak of this disease.”
The Chairman of the Committee Professor Dimie Ogoina said, “The current increase in mpox in some parts of Africa, and the spread of the new sexually transmitted virus of monkeypox, is an emergency, not only in Africa, but in the whole world. It originates from Africa, it was ignored there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022. It’s time to take decisive action to prevent history from repeating itself.”
Ouma says that while this is a step in the right direction, it is further evidence that large health disparities and inequities are powerful in preventing and responding to disease outbreaks. Since mpox was confined to the African continent and remote rural areas of the DRC, communities have long been left to deal with the epidemic without much-needed investment in disease prevention, treatment and prevention.
Emphasizing that there is a pressing issue about “under-diagnosis and under-reporting as we lack the tools to deal with this disease. Clade I and II are prevalent in Africa, but now that the deadly form of Clade Ib can be sexually transmitted, suggesting that it can spread worldwide, we have a lot of work to fight with this contagious disease as others outside the continent are at risk.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
