The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the highly infectious disease Mpox a global health emergency for the second time in two years.
The disease – formerly known as monkeypox – killed at least 450 people in its first outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The variant has now spread across Central and East Africa, and scientists are concerned about the new variant’s rapid spread and high mortality rate.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the potential for further spread in Africa and beyond “is very worrying”.
“A coordinated international response is essential to contain this outbreak and save lives,” he said.
By declaring the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency, it is hoped that research, funding and the implementation of other international public health measures will be accelerated.
There are two main strains of the virus circulating.
Group I is endemic to central Africa, but group Ib is new, more toxic form of virusdescribed by one scientist as “the most dangerous ever”.
The disease is spread through close contact with an infected person — for example, through sexual contact, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing close to another person.
Disease can cause damage throughout the bodyand in some cases can be fatal.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than 13,700 cases of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with at least 450 deaths.
Since then, the disease has been detected in other African countries – including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Rwanda.
This is not the first time that WHO has declared a public health emergency related to an mpox-i outbreak.By July 2022, a milder strain, known as Clade II, had spread to nearly 100 countries.including some in Europe and Asia.
The epidemic was controlled by vaccinating vulnerable groups.
On Tuesday, scientists from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declare a public health emergency.
The head of the organization, Jean Kaseya, warned that the disease could spiral out of control if immediate steps are not taken to stop it.
“We must be proactive and aggressive in our efforts to contain and eliminate this threat,” he said.
