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WHO Declares Mpox Outbreaks in Africa A Global Health Emergency; How Serious Is This New Virus? DETAILS Inside
WHO has declared Mpox outbreak a global heath emergency which poses high risk on neighbors “in and around central Africa!” Check out the details below!
A new virus has emerged in Africa, raising concerns across the continent! The outbreak of the virus identified as Mpox is declared a global health emergency by WHO after patients were found in more than a dozen countries. Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that Mpox was a public health emergency with more than 500 deaths.
“This is something that should concern us all ... The potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. Mpox, also known as Monkeypox, has taken several victims across 13 countries since it first surfaced.
The highest number of cases were found in Congo. Compared to last year, the cases have had a 160% increase and the deaths have increased by 19%. Now, the virus poses risk to the neighboring continents and countries. South African infectious diseases expert and chairperson of the Africa CDC emergency group claim that neighbors “in and around central Africa” are at high risk.
In 2022, the World Health Organization declared the virus a global emergency after it spread across more than 70 countries. However, in that outbreak which mostly affected gay and bisexual men, fewer than 1% people died. After the news spread, concerns came from around the world.
While a medical professor blames the global community for lack of promptness in generating resources, Jacques Alonda, an epidemiologist working in Congo expressed his concerns regarding the virus infecting base camps of refugees.
“The worst case I’ve seen is that of a six-week-old baby who was just two weeks old when he contracted mpox,” Alonda said. This happened due to lack of resources which forced the baby and the mother to share a room with an infected person.
Before the 2022 outbreak, the disease spread sporadically in central and West Africa when people came into close contact with infected wild animals. However, it was brought under control through vaccines and treatments despite the lack of resources in Africa. Now the virus has resurfaced and attempts are being made to control the situation.
