The World Health Organization has declared the ongoing outbreaks of the Monkeypox virus in Congo and other parts of Africa to be a global emergency, requiring urgent action to curb the virus transmission. Sweden has since announced the first case of a new form of monkeypox, previously only seen in Africa, in a traveler. Other European health authorities have warned that more imported cases are likely.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is primarily spread through close skin-to-skin contact with infected people or their soiled clothes or bedsheets. Experts advise avoiding close physical contact with someone who has lesions resembling monkeypox, not sharing their utensils, clothing, or bedsheets, and maintaining good hygiene, such as regular hand-washing.
Pandemics, including the most recent ones of swine flu and COVID-19, are typically sparked by airborne viruses that spread quickly, often by people who may not show symptoms. Mpox, however, spreads much more slowly than the coronavirus. By March 2020, when WHO described COVID-19 as a pandemic, there were more than 126,000 infections and 4,600 deaths. In contrast, it has taken since 2022 for mpox cases to reach nearly 100,000 infections globally, with about 200 deaths, according to WHO. Unlike in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines and treatments are available for mpox.
The World Health Organization’s decision to declare monkeypox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years may seem like déjà vu. Monkeypox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral infection characterized by painful lesions. It is spread by direct contact with an infected person, animal, or contaminated items like clothing or bedding. Clade I was responsible for the 2022 outbreak, which has led to around 100,000 cases worldwide. A version of clade I has spread internationally since January 2023 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 12 other countries in the region.
Infectious disease experts are concerned about further international spread due to clade I being more transmissible and severe than clade II. Mpox has historically spread in a few ways: through close personal contact with an infected person or contact with contaminated materials. Research has linked an outbreak in Congo to professional sex work in bars. The disease’s severity can have less to do with the actual clade and more to do with the route of transmission, the individual’s immune system, and the source of the infection.
Vaccines for mpox are widely available in the U.S., following a major rollout effort in 2022. Two doses of the mpox vaccine or a previous clade II infection should protect against severe illness from clade I. Symptoms of the two mpox clades can be difficult to distinguish from each other. Historically, mpox lesions have tended to appear on the face, chest, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. Immunocompromised people may develop atypical symptoms and have a greater risk of hospitalization and death. Some cases of this nature have also been detected in the current outbreak in Congo. The disease’s severity can have less to do with the actual clade and more to do with the route of transmission, the individual’s immune system, and the source of the infection.
