“For the first time”… a country reports a case of “smallpox”

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Côte d’Ivoire reported confirmed cases of strain 2 of monkeypox, for the first time since the outbreak of the disease in several countries in 2022.

On Monday, the World Health Organization recommended that countries that have recorded infections with a new species of monkeypox that recently appeared in Africa launch vaccination plans in areas where the disease has been found.

But the group reassured fears about the spread of this disease, stressing that smallpox is not “the new Covid.”

The increasing number of monkey diseases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, led by the “1B” strain, which has also been recorded in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, prompted the Health Organization The World Health Organization declared the disease a “public health emergency of international concern” on August 14, the highest level of warning the organization can issue.

The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency in 2022 when the epidemic spread through the “2B” strain worldwide.

The highest level of alert was raised in May 2023, but the World Health Organization recommended that all countries prepare national control plans or maintain surveillance capabilities.