- The agency issued a message of reassurance in the face of an outbreak of mpox in Africa and a single case in Europe
The World Health Organization (WHO) transmitted a message of reassurance on Tuesday, August 20, in the face of the new outbreak of mpox (previously known as monkeypox) in Africa and a single case detected in Europe, in an attempt to contain alarmist information and rumours surrounding this disease and its mode of transmission.
“MPOX is not COVID (…) Based on what we know, MPOX is transmitted mainly through skin-to-skin contact with MPOX lesions, including during sexual intercourse,” said WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge in comments to the international press in Geneva.
Along the same lines, he recalled that we know how to control this infectious disease and what are the “steps that must be taken in Europe to eliminate transmission completely.”
At the press conference, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic stressed that the use of masks is not recommended, as contact is skin-to-skin.
The state of health alert declared by the WHO a few days ago is related to the rapid expansion and high mortality of a new variant (called clade 1b) in Africa and a first case in Sweden, of a traveler who had been in an area of Africa where the virus is circulating intensely.
This variant is different from the so-called clade 2, which caused a violent outbreak in Africa in 2022 and hundreds of cases in Europe, North America and countries in other regions.
A failed attempt to stop mpox
The head of the WHO’s European office recalled that two years ago, European governments were asked to maintain efforts to completely eliminate mpox from Europe, but this failed because “there was a lack of commitment and resources.”
The consequence is that around a hundred cases of mpox clade 2 are diagnosed every month in Europe, with a total of 27,000 cases diagnosed since 2022 on this continent.
What is worrying about the current outbreak is that clade 1b is observed to be more easily transmitted between people and tends to cause more severe symptoms.
In response to reports of the alleged transmission of this clade of mpox through the air, the health official explained that “it is possible that someone, in the acute phase of the infection and especially if they have blisters in their mouth, can transmit the virus to close contacts through droplets (that they exhale), at home or in hospitals.”
The WHO has noted that there is significant evidence that transmission can also occur through bedsheets and utensils in hospitals.
Kluge admitted that the mode of transmission of clade 1b is still not entirely clear and that further investigation is required.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-21 23:03:45
