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Topline
The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency on Wednesday due to an escalating MPox outbreak in Africa, joining that of the continent highest public health body– warning that the disease could snowball without immediate steps to contain it, and stoking fears that a deadlier MPOX pandemic is on the horizon.
A sign reading “monkeypox ward” in a hospital.
Key facts
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the African Union’s health watchdog and the continent’s top public health body, said a growing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries constitutes a “health emergency” public health on the continent”. safety” on Tuesday.
The emergency designation is the agency’s first since its launch in 2017 and comes amid growing concern among scientists about the rapid, uncontrolled spread of a worrisome mpox strain that is deadlier than the version of the virus responsible for the global outbreak in 2022.
The variant, called mpox clade Ib (1B), is an offshoot of the clade I virus that has caused sporadic outbreaks in the DRC for decades and appears to spread more easily between people through routine close contact, especially among children.
Clade I infections have historically been limited to Central Africa, mainly the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the African CDC said the disease has now spread beyond Congo to at least thirteen countries, four of which – Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya –reporting their very first clade I cases in recent months.
Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya stressed the declaration is “not just a formality” but a “call to action” in recognition of a “crisis that requires our collective action.”
Kaseya said that “there is no need for travel restrictions at this time,” adding that the decision will free up funding and other resources and mobilize institutions in affected countries to enable health officials to act “quickly and decisively” on outbreaks.
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News Peg
The WHO Emergency Committee met on Wednesday and declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, which is “the highest alert level under international health law,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO, during a meeting. press conference. This is the second time the agency has declared a global MPOX outbreak: WHO declared a PHEIC in July 2022 and withdrew the designation about a year later in May 2023. “Along with other outbreaks of other mpox clades in other parts of Africa, it is clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” said Tedros.
How bad is the outbreak in Africa?
At least 13 African countries have reported clade I mpox infections, and in 2024 there have been 2,863 cases and 517 deaths to date. Most of these were in the DRC, the Africa CDC said. Given the limited capacity for testing to genetically confirm infections, confirmed cases only provide a limited picture. The number of suspected cases on the continent stands at over 17,000 so far this year, compared to just under 15,000 for all of 2023 and around 7,150 for 2022. Africa CDC said that “this is just the tip of the iceberg” given the “ many weaknesses in supervision”. , laboratory testing and contact tracing.”
What is Mpox and how can it be stopped?
Mpox is a disease formerly known as monkeypox. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes and characteristic rash and the disease follows infection with monkeypox virus, usually through close contact with infected people, animals or contaminated materials such as bedding. The disease is normally mild but can be fatal, with young children and people with compromised immune systems particularly vulnerable. The virus is closely related to smallpox, one of the deadliest human pathogens and the only human infectious disease to have been eradicated, although the disease is much less severe (smallpox, at best, killed about a third of infected people ). There are two broad groups of monkeypox viruses that cause mpox infections: clade I and clade II. Data show that infections with the former have a mortality rate of approximately 10% and the rate for clade II is less than 1%. Specific treatments for infections are limited and largely untested, especially in mpox clade I infections, and hospitals are usually limited to providing supportive care in the worst cases. Smallpox vaccines have been shown to provide at least some degree of protection against infection, although data are limited, especially for clade I infections. Because smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1980 and eliminated in many countries much earlier, many people alive today have not yet received a vaccine against the virus, or if they have, they will have done so long ago . Other preventive measures include avoiding bushmeat, potentially infected animals and avoiding unprotected close contact with those who appear to be infected or with materials they have come into contact with.
Tangent
Many older smallpox vaccines are held in national stockpiles as a biosafety measure, but are not considered suitable for use in most circumstances given the high risk of potentially serious side effects. A more modern vaccine, produced by Bavarian Nordic, improves on this and was rolled out during the global outbreak in 2022, but supplies are limited and the shots can be costly for poorer countries dealing with MPox outbreaks, like many of those in Africa. Complicating matters is that many of these countries also don’t have the basic health infrastructure to get the shots to those who need them to effectively stamp out outbreaks, especially in rural areas. Supply will likely be an ongoing problem. Kaseya said the African CDC has signed an agreement for 215,000 vaccines now available with Bavarian Nordic, with further plans to secure 3 million doses this year. Kaseya has not released any details on plans to secure an additional 3 million doses this year, and even if that does materialize, it won’t be easy much short of the more than 10 million doses Kaseya says will be needed on the continent.
Important background
Scientists have known about MPox for decades, but the disease has received relatively little international attention because outbreaks have typically been small in size and confined to regions in Central and West Africa, for clades I and II, respectively. Most cases have been linked to spillover infections from animals and while scientists are still not clear on which animals are the natural reservoirs of the virus, rodents are the prime suspect. That all changed in 2022 when the virus began spreading worldwide, mainly, but not exclusively, in networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. The virus, an offshoot of clade II called clade IIb, appeared to spread better among people and through sexual contact, a previously undocumented mode of transmission.
Crucial quote
“This is not just a challenge; it is a crisis that demands our collective action, a moment that calls upon the essence of our humanity, our unity and our strength,” Kaseya said in announcing the emergency declaration. “Our continent has seen many struggles,” Kaseya said, pointing to pandemics, outbreaks, natural disasters and conflicts, adding that “through every adversity we have risen, not as fragmented nations, but as one Africa.” He urged countries to “invoke that same spirit of solidarity” to tackle the MPOX outbreak. “But let me be clear: this is not just an African issue. Mpox is a global threat,” Kaseya stressed, calling on countries around the world to help the continent fight the disease.
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