WHO calls on Europe to act quickly against monkey pox

– Today, I reinforce my call to both the authorities and civil society to scale up efforts in the coming weeks and months, says WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, on Friday.

On June 25, the WHO concluded that monkey pox is not a global health crisis, but the organization still believes that the viral disease is deeply a deeply disturbing, ongoing health threat. Monkey cups have been detected in more than 50 countries since the beginning of May.

Kluge points out that the number of cases in Europe has tripled in the last two weeks.

– Rapid and coordinated measures are crucial if we are to reverse the trend and reverse the ongoing spread of this disease, he says.

Crisis situation

Several African countries have reported that they are treating the ongoing outbreak of monkey pox as a crisis situation. They encourage rich countries to share in the limited supply of smallpox vaccines.

Monkey pox has been present in parts of central and western Africa for decades, but like other parts of the world, the countries are now experiencing a major outbreak.

As of now, countries in Africa have registered more than 1,800 suspected cases so far this year, as well as over 70 deaths. However, only 109 cases of infection have been confirmed through laboratory tests.

– This peculiar outbreak means that we are now treating monkey pox as a crisis situation, so that it does not cause more pain and suffering, says Ahmed Ogwell, acting director of the African Infection Control Agency.

Will knock down the disease

Globally, more than 5,000 cases of monkey pox have been recorded in 51 countries, according to the US Infection Control Agency. Most cases have been recorded in Europe, and no deaths have been recorded outside Africa.

More than 90 percent of cases in Africa are in Congo and Nigeria, according to the WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Moeti Matshidiso. But the virus has also spread to countries on the continent where it has not been detected before, such as South Africa, Ghana, and Morocco.

– We would like to see that the global spotlight that is now on monkey cups can act as a catalyst to eradicate this disease in Africa, once and for all, says Dr. Matshidiso.

Conversations

Given the limited global supply of vaccines that work against monkey pox, the WHO is in talks with manufacturers and countries with stocks to find opportunities to share the vaccines, according to Dr. Matshidiso.

The vaccines are mainly developed against smallpox, a disease similar to monkey smallpox. Most of the vaccines are not approved for use against monkey pox in Africa. Vaccines have also not previously been used to any great extent to try to stop outbreaks of monkey pox in Africa. The authorities have so far resorted to measures such as infection detection and isolation.

But the WHO notes that this major outbreak of monkey pox, as in the fight against the coronary pandemic, has not led to countries with vaccine stocks sharing them with African countries.

– We have not seen that donations have been offered to poorer countries. We know that the countries that have vaccines in stock have mainly reserved them for their own population, says Fiona Braka, head of the WHO’s emergency team in Africa.

The WHO says it is working to create a mechanism for sharing vaccines with countries experiencing the largest outbreaks of monkey pox. This has led to fears that most will go to rich countries such as Britain, Germany and France. They are among the WHO’s largest donor countries and already have their own vaccines in stock.

Africa stands out

While the cases of monkey cups in Europe have largely been recorded among men who have sex with men, the WHO says that this is not the case in Africa.

According to detailed data from Ghana, the cases were evenly distributed between men and women, says WHO’s Tieble Traore.

– We have not yet seen a spread among men who have sex with men, he says.

Among the cases of monkey pox in the UK, which has the largest outbreak outside Africa, the vast majority of cases are found in men within specific environments and networks. The disease spreads mostly through close, physical contact between people. But researchers warn that you can also be infected if you come in contact with the clothes or bedding of an infected person.

In Africa, the virus has usually spread to humans from infected wild animals, such as rodents. It has not usually triggered extensive outbreaks or rapid spread between humans.

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