Monkeypox outbreak in Africa is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as WHO declares a global health emergency

WHO reclassifies Monkeypox as a public health emergency

“The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an official statement. “On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” they added.

“What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg. … We are not recognising, or we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of mpox,” committee Chair Dimie Ogoina said.

Also read: Monkeypox outbreak: WHO calls emergency meeting to assess global concern | All you need to know

The organisation is set to issue temporary recommendations to countries affected by the new monkeypox outbreak. Following a meeting of its expert committee, the WHO has designated the scenario as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC), marking the top tier of its warning scale. This marks the second occasion in the last two years that the department has adopted such extreme measures, highlighting the critical nature of the situation. The novel variant of the virus, which has quickly expanded throughout Africa, was previously contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mpox casualties and severity

Last week, the top health group in Africa called the monkeypox situation an emergency because the number of cases was going up fast. So far, this year, there have been more than 17,000 cases of monkeypox and 517 people have died in Africa subsequently. That’s a 160% jump compared to the same time last year. Monkeypox has two main types of viruses, I and II, and there’s a new type called Ib that has been spreading fast as per the declaration. This new type seems to spread more easily when people are in close contact, including during sex.

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“The current upsurge of mpox in parts of Africa, along with the spread of a new sexually transmissible strain of the monkeypox virus, is an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe. Mpox, originating in Africa, was neglected there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022. It is time to act decisively to prevent history from repeating itself,” committee Chair Dimie Ogoina said.

What to know about Monkeypox

Mpox, also called monkeypox, has popped up in 10 African countries this year. The World Health Organization (WHO) called it a worldwide emergency in 2022 after it hit over 70 countries. People suffering from this might feel feverish, have a really itchy rash, headache, muscle and back pain, feel tired, and have swollen lymph nodes. For a long time, the outbreak was mainly seen in Central and West Africa, but it started spreading in Europe and North America in 2022. So far, no one in the US has been found to have the specific strain of mpox known as clade I.