Concerns grew further on Thursday when Swedish authorities reported the first case of a more dangerous type of monkeypox in Europe.
The National Public Health Center (NVSC) hastened to announce that no cases of this strain of the virus have been registered in Lithuania.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus previously said the risk of additional international spread was of grave concern.
“It was unanimously agreed that the current monkeypox outbreak is an extraordinary event,” said Dimie Ogoina, chair of WHO’s emergency committee.
According to him, the officially recorded cases of the disease in Africa are only the tip of the iceberg, the services cannot form a complete picture of the spread of the virus on the continent.
Experts from all over the world are closely monitoring the situation. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned on Friday that more cases of a more dangerous type of monkeypox are likely to be brought into Europe. Here are the answers to the main questions.
What is Monkey Pox?
Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Two types of this virus are known: type I, called the Congo Basin type, and type II, called the West African type, which includes subtypes IIa and IIb.
WHO from 2022 recommends calling monkeypox “mpox,” from the English words monkey pox (monkey pox) for short.
The NVSC states that monkeypox is not an easily spread disease, but can be contracted through close physical contact with a person who has developed symptoms. You can get infected in the following ways:
– through body fluids (pus or blood) from skin lesions or scabs;
– through respiratory droplets during long-term face-to-face contact with a sick person;
– through bedding, towels, clothes and other environmental items used by the sick person;
– during sexual contact (kissing, touching, intercourse).
People with monkeypox can infect others from the time they develop symptoms until the rash has completely healed and a new layer of skin has formed (usually 2 to 4 weeks).
How dangerous is the new outbreak?
Many people heard about monkeypox in 2022. But then the type II virus was spreading.
However, the new outbreak has been attributed to the type I virus, which causes a more severe disease. The subtype Ib of monkeypox, which causes the virus to spread the most, is relatively new.
As a result of various factors, Ib emerged as a new mutation that adapted to humans, experts warn. This means that monkeypox can be easily transmitted from one person to another.
“We are dealing with not one, but several outbreaks of different bugs in different countries, with different modes of transmission and different levels of risk,” WHO chief TAGhebreyesus said on Wednesday.
How dangerous is the virus?
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some outbreaks of monkeypox type I have killed up to 10 percent of the population. lives of infected people. The mortality rate from type II virus is less than 0.2 percent.
Certain groups, including infants, people with severely weakened immune systems and pregnant women, are more likely to develop a more severe form of the disease.
However, experts note that there are many shortcomings in monitoring monkeypox because there are not enough diagnostic tools in Africa. The infection is mostly spread in rural areas, which makes it difficult to collect a sample and deliver it to the laboratory.
Where is monkeypox found?
For decades, monkeypox was mainly reported in Central and West Africa. Most of the virus type I cases were from Central Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while most of the type II cases were from Nigeria.
in 2022 concern grew as the disease began to spread in Europe and North America.
Wider international spread is the main reason monkeypox was declared a global public health emergency, but the geographic nature of the current outbreak is different from that of two years ago.
Monkey pox has now reached more African countries where the disease was previously undetected. Although most cases are reported in the DRC, cases have also been reported in at least 13 countries on the continent.
The first case of monkeypox type I was confirmed in Sweden on Thursday, the first time the infection has been identified outside of Africa.
How to control the spread of the virus?
Vaccines are available to protect against monkeypox, but they are not widely available in Africa.
No cases of monkeypox type I have been reported in the United States, but last week a recommendation was issued that US residents at higher risk of contracting monkeypox should get vaccinated.
Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared monkeypox a public health crisis on the continent on Tuesday and asked for international help to meet its plan to provide 2 million vaccines.
The European Commission announced on Wednesday that the EU will send 175,420 doses of monkeypox vaccine to Africa’s CDC.
The Commission said the vaccines will be supplied by the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Agency (HERA).
HERA will receive 40,000 doses of the vaccine from the vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic, according to the report.
According to the panel, the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine is approved for use in adults at risk in the EU, United Kingdom, United States and other countries.
However, only two African countries have approved the vaccine so far. Last week, the WHO asked the company, Bavarian Nordic, to ensure that the vaccine is included in the lists of preparations for use in unforeseen cases, so that it can be delivered more quickly to countries affected by the outbreak.
2024-08-16 16:22:41