2024-08-14 17:46:48
L’World Health Organization Faced with a resurgence of African pox cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) activated the highest level of international health alert on Wednesday, August 14. “Today, the Emergency Committee met and informed me that they consider this situation to constitute a public health emergency of international concern. I accept this opinion»WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
Fifteen members of this committee attended the meeting “All” Dimie Ogoina, chair of the expert panel, told reporters that the criteria for declaring an international public health emergency had been met.
“The emergence of clade 1b last year and its rapid spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [République démocratique du Congo]The virus appears to be spreading primarily through sexual networks, and its detection in neighboring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is particularly concerning and one of the main reasons why I decided to convene an emergency committee.”“The head of the World Health Organization said.
“But what we are facing is not a single epidemic and a single strain. We are facing multiple outbreaks in different countries, different strains, different modes of transmission and different risk levels.”he continued.
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The virus is more contagious and dangerous than in 2022
The World Health Organization had already taken such a decision in 2022, when the MPOX (carried by clade 2b) epidemic was spreading globally. But the current outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is now limited to Africa, has its own peculiarities, starting with a more contagious and dangerous virus. It is caused by clade 1 and the more dangerous variant clade 1b. Its mortality rate is estimated at 3.6%.
On Tuesday, the African Union health agency announced that “Public Health Emergency”Faced with a growing measles epidemic on the African continent, its highest level of alert has been activated “A clear call to action” to prevent its spread.
According to statistics, a total of 38,465 cases of the disease (formerly known as monkeypox) have been reported in 16 African countries since January 2022, with 1,456 deaths, with the number of cases in 2024 increasing by 160% from the previous year. Figures released last week by the African Union health agency Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“WHO is committed to coordinating the global response in the coming days and weeks, working closely with each affected country and leveraging its presence on the ground to prevent transmission, treat infected people and save lives”” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
ALSO READ | Monkeypox: WHO fears outbreak could spread from Democratic Republic of Congo around the world
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rash
Mpox is a viral disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans, but can also be spread through close physical contact with an infected person. Clade 1b exhibits a generalized rash, whereas previous strains were characterized by localized rashes and lesions on the mouth, face, or genitals.
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Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), with the spread of the clade 1 subtype and has since been largely restricted to the western and central countries of the country, with widespread infection among patients. caused by animals.
In 2022, a global epidemic carried by the clade 2 subtype spread to about a hundred countries where the disease is not endemic, primarily affecting gay and bisexual men. In the face of the global epidemic outbreak, the World Health Organization issued the highest level of alert in July 2022, and less than a year later, in May 2023, the highest level of alert was lifted. 140 people died.
“Over the past month, approximately 90 clade 1b cases have been reported in four countries surrounding the Democratic Republic of Congo where measles viruses have never been reported before: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda”Tedros recalled before the committee on Wednesday.
Issued the highest global alert “It may enable WHO to access emergency response funding. For other countries, the same priorities remain: invest in diagnostic capacity, public health response, treatment support and vaccination. It won’t be easy.Marion Koopmans, professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
ALSO READ | Monkeypox: A new, more dangerous strain emerging in Democratic Republic of Congo worries WHO and researchers
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