Global concern over Monkeypox – ‘Potential to spread beyond Africa’

The alarm was sounded yesterday (14.08.2024) by the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, regarding the possibility of monkeypox spreading throughout the world beyond Africa.

Yesterday the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency due to the outbreak of ‘Clade Ib’, a new deadly strain of monkeypox in Africa.

“What should concern us all is the spread of the virus within Africa and beyond. This possibility is very worrying,” said director-general Gebreges, recommending caution for public health.

In the last year alone, 17,000 cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 African countries.

Most of the cases are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has 96% of confirmed cases in the last month.

Compared to 2023, cases have increased by 160%.

A total of 38,465 cases have been recorded in 16 African countries since January 2022. Of these, 1,456 patients have died.

An epidemiologist working in the Congo, Jacques Alonda, said there was great concern about the spread of monkeypox in refugee camps in the east.

“The worst case I have seen is that of a six-week-old infant, presented at only two weeks of age.”

“He got infected because the overcrowding of the hospital forced him and his mother to share a room with another patient who had the virus and was undiagnosed,” Alonda said of the situation in Congo.

Modes of transmission and symptoms
Monkey pox is a viral disease and is easily transmitted from infected animals to humans.

It can be spread very easily between people through close contact (touching, kissing, sexual intercourse, contaminated needles and clothing).

Symptoms include fevers, rashes all over the body, headaches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes and low energy.

In earlier strains of the virus, the rashes appeared on the face, mouth and genitals.

The disease mainly affected gay and bisexual men.

The World Health Organization has already signed off on the emergency use of the two vaccines and has developed a response plan that requires $15 million.