The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom, has called for a Emergency Committee to meet “as soon as possible” to decide in the coming days whether the spread of the new variant of monkeypox (Mpox) in some African countries could become an international public health emergency.
This alarm is due especially to the increase in cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). with a new strain that is “more serious” than the previous one, according to the WHO. “The number of cases reported in the first six months of this year is consistent with the number reported in the whole of last year, and the virus has spread to provinces that were previously unaffected,” Dr Tedros said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“In the last month, about 50 confirmed cases have been reported and other suspects in four countries neighbouring the Democratic Republic of the Congo that had not previously reported: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda,” he said.
According to a study in the journal ‘Science’, this new variant is more lethal than the one that caused the epidemic of 2022, the year in which the virus jumped to the European continent and arrived in Spain. However, vaccines They have managed to keep the virus under control in Europe (only 260 cases this year), unlike in Africa, which does not have these treatments.
The most common symptoms of monkeypox are: rashes and blisters on the face, hands, feet and groin, as well as on the genitals with this new strain. Infected people also suffer fever alta, muscle painsback, head and the swollen lymph nodes.
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus, like the Variola Virusand is zoonotic and endemic to western and central Africa.
And contrary to what might be deduced from its name, it is mainly wild mice that spread this disease, and to a lesser extent, some monkeys and squirrels.
It is even believed that It can be transmitted through contaminated objects such as clothing or bedding..
As for human-to-human transmission, it appears that the virus enters the body through wounds in the skin, the respiratory tract, the eyes, nose and mouth.
An investigation by the Dermatology Service of the 12th of October University Hospital in Madrid collects evidence of skin contact with skin during sexual intercourse as the main route of transmission of monkeypox. The findings of this study provide the necessary information to reach accurate diagnoses, such as the fact that the transmission pattern has changed in this case from respiratory contact to skin contact, together with the appearance of unusual manifestations such as proctitis and ulceration of the tonsils.
Public health emergency
“In light of the spread of Mpox outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the potential for further international spread within and outside Africa, I have decided to convene an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations to advise me on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency. of international significance. The committee will meet as soon as possible and will be composed of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world,” said Dr Tedros.
In this context, the WHO Director General has specified that the Mpox outbreaks are caused by different viruses called ‘clades’ and that “clade 1 has been circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for years, while clade 2 was responsible for the global outbreak that began in 2022.”
“The current outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is caused by a new branch of clade 1, called clade 1b, which causes more severe disease than clade 2. Clade 1b has been confirmed in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, while the Burundi clade is still being analyzed. At the same time, clade 1a cases have been reported this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo, while cases of clade 2 have been reported in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa,” he detailed.
WHO has developed a regional response plan that requires almost 14 million euros to support surveillance activities, preparedness and response. “We have released almost €1 million from the WHO Contingency Emergency Fund to support the scale-up of the response, and we plan to release more in the coming days,” Dr Tedros added.
He also announced that “The process for the inclusion of Mpox vaccines in the Emergency Use Listing has been launched, which will accelerate access to vaccines, particularly for lower-income countries, which have not yet issued their own national regulatory approval.”
Regarding travel restrictions, For the moment, the WHO “does not recommend specific measures for travel”, but it does recommend that “the corresponding information be provided to travelers” and cross-border collaboration between countries.”
At the moment, the overall fatality rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo “is around 3.6 percent, with more than 100,000 cases “high in endemic areas and especially in infants and young children,” said WHO’s technical lead for monkeypox, Dr Rosamund Lewis.
“Infants have a high mortality rate, over five percent. Children under five years of age have a slightly lower fatality rate, and in adults, “For children and adults over 15 years of age, the fatality rate is less than three percent,” he added.
