According to the World Health Organization, the recent spread of the viral disease Mpox is not comparable to the corona pandemic. Mpox is not the new Covid, said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, at a press conference on Tuesday. This applies regardless of whether it is the new or the old variant. The authorities know how to control the spread of the virus.
“We can and must act together against Mpox,” Kluge stressed. “So will we put the systems in place to control and eliminate Mpox worldwide? Or will we enter another cycle of panic and neglect? How we respond now and in the years to come will be a crucial test for Europe and the world.”
Last Wednesday, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the spread of a new variant of the virus, thereby raising its highest level of alert. The clade Ib variant has caused concern worldwide because it appears to spread more easily through close contact. A case of this variant was confirmed in Sweden last week and has been linked to the growing spread in Africa.
Kluge said that focusing on Clade I gives Europe the chance to focus on the less severe Clade II variant, including better public health advice and surveillance. About 100 new cases of Clade II are currently being reported each month in the European region.
The African health authority CDC Africa has recorded almost 1,400 new cases of the disease Mpox within a week. There are currently almost 19,000 cases since the beginning of the year, CDC Director General Jean Kaseya told journalists. Since the beginning of the year, 541 patients have died from the disease. The focus of the outbreaks is in Central Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where almost 17,800 cases have been reported since the beginning of the year. In Burundi, the number of reported cases of the disease rose from 265 to 572 within a week, according to CDC figures.
The Congolese Ministry of Health is expecting a first delivery of vaccines from the USA next week. One of the challenges in dealing with the disease is the low vaccination rate, says Kaseya. What Africa urgently needs are its own vaccine production facilities.
