This is not the first time that MPOX has made headlines. Back in 2022, when people were still talking about “monkeypox”, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency. Now it has done so again.
But the virus is even more worrying than it was two years ago, because the current outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has spread to several African countries, belongs to a more aggressive variant and has more routes of transmission than the previous one, which was mainly referred to as sexual contact as the route of transmission.
On Thursday (15.8.2024), the first case of this new variant outside Africa was reported in Sweden. Are we facing the danger of a new pandemic, like COVID-19? Dr. Felix Drexler, virologist and professor at the Charité University Clinic in Berlin, reflects for a moment before answering: “I don’t know, I don’t think so. Not immediately, and certainly not on the same scale.”
He explains that the new outbreak of mpox has been going on for several months in Africa, and has not yet reached all parts of the world. “It took COVID, how long, two weeks, to spread across the planet?” the specialist recalls. “mpox is less transmissible. Although we are obviously seeing this high pathogenicity. Initial data indicate that it is a fairly dangerous variant for minors, unfortunately. But we don’t know much,” he adds. In the case of COVID, there were asymptomatic people who could spread it. “As for mpox, we still don’t know very well what the proportion of contagious but apparently healthy people would be. That will be learned soon,” he says.
“Where are the changes?”
In Latin America, there were cases of monkeypox in 31 countries and territories, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in 2022. “Now there is apparently no news of cases, and if there are, they are certainly not serious, because we would have detected that in the region,” says the German virologist. However, there is no reason to let down our guard. “It is not yet a direct threat, but we must remember that we are living in a very connected world.”
Doctors examine a patient with mpox symptoms in Lima, in 2022. Image: Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images
The serious thing is that, once again, the deficits in health care are becoming evident, according to the specialist, who has extensive professional experience in Latin America, where he has also carried out projects to combat COVID and Zika. “For me, it is very sad to see that we are still poorly prepared, after a pandemic of years. Where are the changes in investment in health, in the way of preparing for emergencies?”
That’s not just true of mpox. Drexler gives another example: “We’re seeing a dramatic increase in cases of Oropouche fever in America… it’s a virus we’ve known about since the 1960s. How can we be so unprepared?” Drexler asks.
Lesson not learned
Apparently, the lesson of COVID has not been learned properly at a general level. This is not only the case in Latin America, but substantial improvements are lacking, especially in the regional capacity to respond to an emergency. The German virologist says, for example, that he brought the first PCR test to detect mpox to Bolivia about six months ago.
Dr. Felix Drexler. Image: DW/C. Toledo
“Latin America needs to open its eyes and see how to prepare itself as a region,” stresses the Charité specialist. He specifically mentions the issue of vaccinations. Severe cases of mpox generally affect young people and children who are not immunized by the smallpox vaccine, which was discontinued in the 1970s. This vaccine offers cross-protection and specific immunization may soon be available, including for the new variant of monkeypox.
“It’s not that all of America has to be vaccinated. But it’s good to invest in preparation in the region. Many Latin American countries stopped producing vaccines in the 60s, 70s, 80s… Colombia is an example. Almost everyone trusted the market. But the COVID pandemic showed us that the market does not always guarantee access,” says Drexler.
And he stresses: “I am totally against the idea that each nation has to solve things on its own, because that is wasting a lot of resources. The region has to be prepared, it has to be united.”
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