Geneva, Switzerland.- The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the current outbreaks of mpox in the Congo and other parts of Africa a global emergency, requiring urgent action to stop the transmission of the virus.
Sweden has since announced it had detected its first case of a new form of mpox previously seen only in Africa, while other European health authorities have warned more imported cases were likely.
Here’s a look at mpox and the likelihood of it spreading further:
Will Mpox cause another pandemic?
That seems highly unlikely. Pandemics, including the most recent swine flu and Covid-19, are typically caused by airborne viruses that spread rapidly.
Monkeypox, also known as mpox, is spread primarily through direct contact with the skin of infected people or with their dirty clothes or bedding. It often causes visible skin lesions that may make people less likely to be in close contact with others.
To stay safe, experts advise avoiding close physical contact with anyone who has mpox-like lesions, not sharing utensils, clothing or bedding, and maintaining good hygiene, such as washing your hands regularly.
On Friday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said it was “very likely” that there were more imported cases of mpox from Africa, but that the chances of local outbreaks in Europe were very low.
Scientists say the risk to the general population is low in countries where there are no current mpox outbreaks.
How is mpox different from Covid-19?
Unlike the coronavirus, mpox spreads very slowly. Shortly after the coronavirus was identified in China, the number of cases increased exponentially from several hundred to several thousand; in a single week in January, the number of cases increased more than tenfold.
By March 2020, when the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic, there were more than 126,000 infections and 4,600 deaths, about three months after the coronavirus was first identified.
Vaccines and treatments are available for mpox, unlike in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have what we need to stop mpox,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the Duke University Global Health Institute.
“This is not the same situation as the one we faced with Covid, when there were no vaccines or antivirals.”
How quickly will these mpox outbreaks stop?
It is unclear. The 2022 mpox outbreak in more than 70 countries slowed within months, largely thanks to vaccination programs and drugs made available to at-risk populations by wealthy countries.
Today, most cases of mpox are reported in Africa, with 96 percent of those cases and deaths occurring in Congo, one of the world’s poorest countries whose health system has largely collapsed due to malnutrition, cholera and measles.
Although Congolese authorities have requested 4 million vaccines from donors, they have not yet received any.
Africa has barely received any vaccines and treatments despite the WHO declaring mpox a global emergency in 2022.
Duke University’s Beyrer said it was in the global interest to invest now in eliminating outbreaks in Africa.
“We are actually in a good position to control this pandemic, but we have to make the decision to prioritize Africa,” he said.
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