World Health Organization On behalf of (WHO). Monkey pox After declaring the spread of the virus as a global emergency, the relevant institutions have been put on high alert in Pakistan as well.
Sajid Shah, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, told Independent Urdu on Thursday that the Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, has issued an M to all airports across the country. It has been directed to stay alert regarding the prevention of pox.
The spokesperson said that in Pakistan M. No cases of this new type of pox have been reported.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement regarding the Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, that the Border Health Services Pakistan organization has been put on high alert, the screening system is being ensured at all airports and the International Health Regulation. Implementation of recommendations is being ensured.
The Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health said that all necessary measures are being taken to keep the public safe from epidemics.
“The Ministry of Health and Border Health Services personnel are on alert to deal with any kind of sudden disaster and the Ministry of Health is ensuring monitoring of the situation.”
He said that national and provincial public health laboratories M. Pox virus is well prepared for confirmation.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, so far this year in African countries, suspected M. More than 17 thousand cases of pox were reported while 517 deaths were reported.
WHO has declared monkeypox as a global concern
WHO on Wednesday Congo and Africa Elsewhere in the U.S., the outbreak of the new strain of monkeypox was declared a global emergency, warning that the virus could spread across international borders.
The announcement by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came after a meeting of the United Nations Health Agency’s emergency committee.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday declared monkeypox a public health emergency on the continent.
The WHO said there have been more than 14,000 monkeypox cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, higher than the previous year’s figures.
So far, more than 96 percent of all cases and deaths have occurred in a single country, Congo. Scientists are more concerned about the spread of a new type of the disease, which can spread more easily among people.
What is Minki Pox?
Monkeypox, also known as ‘monkeypox’, was first discovered by scientists in 1958, when a ‘pox-like’ disease broke out in monkeys. Until recently, the disease in humans was observed in people in Central and West Africa, who came into close contact with infected animals.
In 2022, the virus was first confirmed to be transmitted through sexual contact, sparking an epidemic in more than 70 countries around the world, where no cases of monkeypox had previously been reported.
Monkeypox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox and its symptoms include fever, chills and body aches. In more severe cases, wounds develop on a person’s face, hands, chest and genitals.
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What is happening in Africa?
The number of monkeypox cases in Africa has increased dramatically. Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that monkeypox had been detected in at least 13 African countries, with monkeypox cases up 160 percent and deaths up 19 percent compared to the same period last year. has increased.
Earlier this year, scientists reported an outbreak of a new type of monkeypox in a Congolese mining town, which can kill 10 percent of people and spread more easily.
Unlike previous outbreaks of monkeypox, in which sores were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet, this new strain of monkeypox showed mild symptoms as well as sores on the genitals. This makes the disease difficult to identify, meaning infected people can infect others without knowing they have monkeypox.
The WHO said monkeypox was recently identified for the first time in four East African countries, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, and all cases were linked to the outbreak in Congo. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization was concerned about further spread of the disease within and beyond Africa.
In Ivory Coast and South Africa, health officials have reported outbreaks of a different and less virulent form of monkeypox, which spread worldwide in 2022.
What does an emergency declaration mean?
The WHO’s emergency declaration is intended to encourage donor agencies and countries to mobilize, but the global response to past declarations has been mixed.
Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean Cassia appealed for help from Africa’s international partners, saying the spread of monkeypox in Africa has been largely ignored.
Michael Marks, professor of medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: ‘It is clear that current disease control strategies are not working and there is a clear need for more resources.’
Ahead of his emergency meeting, Tedros said authorities in different countries were dealing with the spread of monkeypox with ‘different methods and different levels of risk’.
“Stopping this epidemic will require an appropriate and comprehensive response,” he added.
Save the Children Congo director Greg Ream said the organization was particularly concerned about the spread of monkeypox in overcrowded refugee camps in the east, where 345,000 children live in “unsanitary conditions”. .
Dr. Boghoma Titanji, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University, said it was unclear why children were so disproportionately affected by monkeypox in the Congo. At the same time, he said, this could be because children are more susceptible to the virus or because of social factors, such as overcrowding and being in contact with parents who have the disease.
How can monkeypox be controlled?
In 2022, monkeypox outbreaks in dozens of countries were contained, largely through the use of vaccines and treatments in rich countries, in addition to persuading people to avoid risky behaviors, but in Africa there was hardly any. A vaccine or treatment has become available.
Marks, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said vaccination would likely help.
He said: ‘We need a large supply of vaccine so that we can vaccinate the most at-risk populations.’
Congo has said it is in talks with donors about possible vaccine donations and has secured some funding from Britain and the United States.
The WHO had already released $1.45 million from its emergency fund to support the monkeypox response in Africa, but the agency says it needs an initial $15 million in the latest outbreak.
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2024-08-15 19:43:28
