Global health emergency declared for monkeypox as cases may spread internationally:
WHO 14,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in Africa this year, while 524 deaths have occurred due to it.
96% of monkeypox cases and deaths reported so far have been reported in just one country, the Congo.
Virus of MPox
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency following the rise in cases of monkeypox (Mpox) in Africa.
The WHO has warned that monkeypox has been declared a global health emergency because cases of it could spread internationally.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus declared the global health emergency after a meeting of the agency’s emergency committee on Wednesday.
According to the news organization “Associated Press”, Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had announced a health emergency regarding monkey pox in Africa on Tuesday.
World Health Organisation:
World health organisation
According to the World Health Organization, more monkeypox cases have been reported in Africa this year than last year.
This year, 14,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in Africa, while 524 deaths have occurred.
96% of monkeypox cases and deaths reported in Africa so far have been reported in just one country, the Congo.
Medical experts fear that there is more to worry about the new strain of monkeypox that has emerged because it can be easily transmitted to other people.
What is monkeypox:
Monkey pox is also known as M pox. The outbreak was first identified in 1958 when experts identified a similar disease in monkeys.
Most cases of monkeypox in Africa so far have involved people who had close contact with infected animals.
Later in 2022, when its cases were reported in about 70 countries of the world,
experts said that this virus is also spread through sexual intercourse.
Symptoms of Monkey Pox According to experts,the symptoms of this disease are generally similar to smallpox and these symptoms appear within one to two weeks.
After being infected with monkey pox, there is initially fever and body aches and vomiting.
Followed by smallpox-like rashes, especially on the hands and face.
Experts say that initially there are red bumps and itching.
Red bumps on body
Later, the rash becomes pus-like and contains secretions that can spread the infection from person to person.
Experts have clarified that this disease does not spread through breathing.
Monkey pox now renamed:
Monkey pox now renamed as M pox due to racism concerns.
What is happening in Africa:
Africa has seen a sudden spike in monkeypox cases over the past week.
Africa’s CDC reported that cases of monkeypox have been reported in 13 countries and that deaths have increased by 19 percent this year.
Earlier this year, medical experts announced that a new strain of monkeypox had emerged among people in a mining area in the Congo, which could increase the death rate by 10 percent.
It has the ability to spread.
In previous forms of monkeypox, most of the infected people had visible rashes or sores on the chest, hands or feet.
But the new type does not show clear symptoms when infected.
In the new type of monkeypox, the symptoms are very mild, with sores or smallpox-like rashes appearing on specific parts of the infected person.
Therefore no one knows whether a sick person is infected with monkey pox or not.
According to the World Health Organization, cases of new type of monkeypox have been reported.
For the first time in four East African countries, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
African situation gone worse
The World Health Organization has said that the outbreak in these countries is related to the monkey pox outbreak in Congo.
The head of the WHO says that he fears that the epidemic may spread beyond the borders of all African countries.
Authorities have reported outbreaks of different types of monkeypox in two other African countries, Ivory Coast and South Africa.
What is new in the new type of monkeypox epidemic?
A 2022 outbreak of monkeypox affected mostly gay men.
At the time, it was reported that most of the cases or outbreaks were caused by intimate relationships or sexual promiscuity among these same-sex men.
According to medical experts, similar patterns have been observed in Africa.
However, this time in Congo, 70 percent of the cases in front of the epidemic are children under the age of 15.
In the Congo, 85 percent of monkeypox deaths are among children under the age of 15.
Greg Ram, the Congolese director of UK-based children’s rights NGO Save the Children,
says the outbreak of monkeypox in a refugee camp in eastern Congo is of particular concern.
He said that around three and a half lakh children in the camp are present in tents in a very unhealthy environment.
He added that Congo’s health system is already in ruins, with children suffering from malnutrition, measles and cholera.
Information from the Associated Press has been included in this report.
