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The World Health Organization calls upon authorities worldwide to prepare for possible Mpox outbreaks.
The disease caused by the monkeypox virus manifests itself through a wide variety of symptoms. The WHO is now sounding the alarm again.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared its highest alert level due to a new variant of the viral disease, Mpox, in Africa. It has declared a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC). This has no specific implications but is intended to alert authorities worldwide to prepare for possible outbreaks.
The monkeypox virus belongs to the family of orthopox viruses. Transmission occurs primarily through direct contact with the skin and mucous membranes and through contact with infected secretions from one or more blisters or lesions on the skin or mucous membranes of the infected person. Monkeypox viruses can also be transmitted to the fetus via respiratory secretions and body fluids and, in infected pregnant women, via the placenta. It is currently unclear whether the monkeypox virus can be spread through semen, vaginal secretions, urine or stool, as the FOPH writes on its website.
The WHO’s concern relates, among other things, to a new virus variant discovered in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the end of 2023. It is a subline of Mpox clade I (Roman one), called Ib. It could be more contagious than previous variants and trigger more severe courses of the disease. Detailed studies on this are still pending. In recent weeks, clade I Mpox has also been discovered for the first time in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya.
The European health authority ECDC assessed the risk of the new variant spreading in Europe as “very low” at the end of July. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there are no known cases of clade I in Germany to date.
Mpox was called monkeypox because it was first detected in monkeys by chance. The WHO decided on the new name because, to prevent discrimination, diseases are not named after animals or countries in which they are discovered.
Mpox can occur within five to 21 days after close contact with an infected person. The severity of the symptoms varies from person to person. In some cases, only isolated and mild symptoms occur. The rash is often inconspicuous, with only a few or individual blisters or pustules. The blisters or pustules can cause pain and itch and appear at various stages of development. Flu-like symptoms may also occur.
In summer 2022, an unusually high number of Mpox infections were detected worldwide for the first time, including in Austria. On July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Mpox outbreak an “emergency of international concern.”.The Ministry of Health currently states: “There is currently minimal vaccine against Mpox in Austria.” However, certain healthcare personnel and people with personal risk behavior (“frequently changing sexual contacts, especially men with same-sex partners”), as well as people with contact to people infected with Mpox, could receive vaccination as a preventive measure.
As the WHO emphasizes, the increase in the alert level is primarily intended as an alarm signal for health authorities worldwide to prepare for possible outbreaks. According to the German Robert Koch Institute, individual outbreaks are possible, but a sharp increase in cases, such as in 2022, is not currently expected.
- source: heute.at/picture: pixabay.com
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