“The Emergency Committee met today, after which I was informed that the Committee considers this to be a public health emergency of international concern. I have agreed with this recommendation,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference.
More than 14,000 cases of a new strain of monkeypox have been recorded in Africa this year, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the start of an online meeting.
The epicenter of the outbreak is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but in recent weeks there has been a threat that the outbreak could spread, with around 90 cases reported in neighboring countries.
Monkey pox is a viral disease that causes blisters on the patient’s body. It spreads through contact with infected people or animals, as well as by touching infected materials.
Although many patients recover completely, the disease can be dangerous for children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.
At least 500 people have already died in the outbreak, Ghebreyesus said.
EU to send vaccines to Africa
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.
A new strain is causing concern
Just two years before these events, the WHO had declared the disease a public health crisis.
The outbreak was then quickly brought under control in many countries by informing the population about protective measures and vaccines.
However, from 2023 At the end of the year, a new variant of the disease began to spread in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The new strain could spread more easily and cause more severe disease, observers say.
So far, the largest outbreak is mainly observed only in Africa.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control assessed the risk of the new strain spreading to Europe at the end of July and found it to be “very low”.
2024-08-15 06:51:52