Category: Monkey Pox

Scientists are calling on the international community to contain a worrying new mutated strain of mpox that has been discovered in a mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The virus is an offshoot of the deadly clade 1 mpox strain, but has evolved to become even better at spreading and evading tests than its predecessor.

Mpox, previously called monkeypox, is a rare infection that originated in west or central Africa. Although symptoms may be mild, the infection can cause unusual rashes and blisters, fevers, headaches, muscle ache, exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes.

In 2022, the virus spread to 110 countries, with the majority of cases reported among gay and bisexual men.

So far, 241 cases of the new strain have been suspected and 108 confirmed in Kamituga

STRINGER/AFP via Getty

The DRC is now caught in the grip of a much more deadlier form of clade 1, which kills up to 10 percent of people who get sick.

In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 3,576 people were infected and 264 were killed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Two thirds of cases and 85 percent of fatalities were among children.

The mutated strain is wreaking havoc in Kamituga a poor, densely populated gold mining town with a population of 242,000 residents that's located just 170 miles from the Rwandan border. So far, 241 cases of the new strain have been suspected and 108 confirmed.

It is believed to have made the jump from animals to humans somewhere between July and September 2023.

"Without intervention, this localised Kamituga outbreak harbors the potential to spread nationally and internationally," the authors warn in new pre-print study.

"Given the recent history of mpox outbreaks in DRC, we advocate for swift action by endemic countries and the international community to avert another global mpox outbreak," they added.

The researchers are calling for the roll out of "urgent measures", including expanded surveillance, contact tracing and targeted vaccination to contain the new outbreak.

Although the 2022/23 global outbreak was spreading primarily among networks of gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, it's unclear if it's following the same route of transmission.

The infection can cause unusual rashes and blisters

CDC/Getty Images

However, early signs suggest that this is the case: sex workers have aided its spread in Kamituga, accounting for 30 nearly percent of cases.

Some 85 percent of people had genital lesions, while 10 percent were hospitalised.

The research was led by Congolese scientists in collaboration with experts across Africa, Europe, the US and Canada.

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Monkey pox symptoms to spot amid new outbreak in Congo - GB News

The Ministry of Health has diagnosed three more men with Mpox, taking the total number of cases in Cambodia to 17 since December 2023 to April this year.

The Ministry announced on Saturday that they had detected three more cases of Mpox, more commonly called Monkey Pox, in the last 15 days, and the infected are men between the ages of 20 and 43, most of them are Phnom Penh residents.

Five patients are currently under treatment and receiving medical attention at a hospital, the Ministry added.

Koy Vanny, a spokesman for the Ministry, said no one was seriously ill, they have been put in isolation, however, they cannot divulge the hospital to maintain their privacy.

There have been no deaths from Mpox virus in Cambodia, most of the victims sought medical help and received confidential testing to confirm the presence of the virus, he added.

Compared to neighbouring countries or other countries in the region, cases of Mpox are low, as the Ministry had implemented specific measures to prevent the spread of the disease, he said.

If they suspect that they may have been infected with the Mpox virus, they should consult a doctor, as this disease can be treated, and the treatment takes only two to three weeks, he added.

Dr Quach Mengly, a public health expert, said that although Cambodia hasnt had any fatalities from the Mpox virus, special care should be taken to prevent the spread of the disease in the community.

There is a vaccine to fight Mpox, so if the disease spreads, the Ministry may announce a vaccination programme to prevent the spread of the virus, he added.

The Ministry has announced that the Mpox virus is transmitted from person to person through all forms of sexual contact or direct contact with wounds, body fluids, and airborne droplets, as well as clothes, mattresses and towels contaminated with the virus.

The virus is also transmitted from an infected mother to the embroy through the umbilical cord during pregnancy.

The Ministry also advises people to take care of their personal health, especially to practice safe sex by using a condom and to avoid having multiple sexual partners.

Ministry called on people to avoid direct contact with people with Mpox.

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Ministry finds 3 new cases of Mpox - Khmer Times

Vaccines urged amidst rise in Measles and Mpox cases

by Brittany Slaughter

FILE- Vials of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine sit in a cooler at the Rockland County Health Department in Pomona, N.Y., March 27, 2019. A midwife on New York's Long Island, who gave nearly 1,500 children homeopathic pellets instead of required vaccinations, has been fined $300,000, the state's health department announced this week. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

(WSET)

Health officials are urging you to get vaccinated amid a rise in Measles and MPOX, otherwise known as Monkey Pox cases.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, there has been an increase in the diseases globally and in Virginia.

As of March, there were five Mpox cases and one case of Measles in Virginia.

Cynthia Morrow is the Health District Director for Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts, she said vaccination is a choice, but key to prevention.

"As long as people understand the risks of not getting vaccinated and they make that informed choice, that is their decision. Thankfully, at the population level we still have very high rates of vaccinations particularly for measles," Morrow said.

Morrow said Measles is one of the most contagious viruses, but she doesn't expect widespread cases due to high enough vaccination rates.

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Vaccines urged amidst rise in Measles and Mpox cases - WSET

Kinshasa05-04-2024Health - The Provincial Health Division of South Kivu announces the occurrence of two hundred and thirty-nine cases of Monkeypox, including three deaths within six months in the South Kivu province.

The majority are from Mwenga where 160 cases including three deaths were reported, and in Bukavu, across two health zones, three cases of Monkey pox have been registered.

Dr. Justin Bengehya has indicated that all these patients have been taken care of free of charge thanks to the support of the World Health Organization (WHO).

He revealed some strategies that have been taken to prevent the spread of this disease, namely: strengthening communication in the community and community-based surveillance.

Safi Meta

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South Kivu: within six months, 239 cases of Monkeypox including 3 deaths reported in Mwenga and Bukavu. - Digitalcongo.net

The Virginia Department of Health is "closely monitoring" a recent increase in mpox (formerly known as monkey pox) cases in the state.

Since Jan. 1, 12 mpox cases have been reported to VDH from the state's central, eastern, northern and northwest health regions, VDH said in a news release.

Of those, four patients required hospitalization, six were co-infected with HIV, and none had been previously vaccinated.

For comparison, there were 12 reported mpox cases in all of 2023, and all were in the Northern Virginia region.

Signs and symptoms of mpox include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes and a new, unexplained rash that might be painful.

Most people infected with mpox during this ongoing outbreak have been gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, but anyone can get mpox, the release said.

"These recently reported cases demonstrate the continued need for mpox prevention and testing to curb disease transmission," the release said."Its important for everyone to help prevent the spread, especially as we enter into the spring and summer festival season, including Pride celebrations."

Medical professionals say get vaccinated with two doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine if youre at risk of being exposed to mpox or come into close contact with someone with mpox.

The vaccine protects against mpox infection and can lessen illness severity if you get mpox.

Getting both doses offers the best protection.It is never too late to start the series or get your second dose if you havent already, the release said.

Mpox vaccines are free.

Mpox spreads through close, sustained physical contact, so take steps to protect yourself, whether you are vaccinated or not.

If you are a person who has been informed that you are a close contact with someone with mpox, watch for symptoms of mpox 21 days from the last day of exposure and talk to your health care provider about getting vaccinated.

When thinking about how to lower the chance of getting mpox at events like raves, parties, clubs and festivals, consider how much close, personal, skin-to-skin contact is likely to occur. Clothing that covers skin allows for better protection at events where there may be higher levels of close contact.

Do not share personal items and avoid skin-to-skin contact with someone with confirmed mpox or a new, unexplained rash.

If you have mpox or symptoms of mpox, talk with your health care provider about getting tested, even if you have been vaccinated. Stay at home and away from other people and animals until your mpox rash has healed and a new layer of skin has formed.

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Virginia Department of Health seeing an increase in reported mpox cases - InsideNoVa

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Scientists at City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, show that a COVID-19 vaccine developed at the organization's Los Angeles campus also protects against mpox, according to research published in Communications Medicine.

The vaccine was developed in the laboratory of Don J. Diamond, Ph.D., City of Hope professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and a member of the Hematological Malignancies Research Institute.

In research led by vaccine experts at City of Hope, a novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COH04S1) has been found to also elicit a robust immune response to the mpox (formerly known as monkey pox) virus. Humans and nonhuman primates who received COH04S1 generated an mpox virus (MPXV) cross-reactive antibody response similar to individuals who were vaccinated against mpox by the only Food and Drug Administration-approved smallpox/mpox vaccine on the market, JYNNEOS.

In a relevant mouse model, the authors also showed that the novel COVID-19 vaccine provides protection against the mpox virus strain that caused the recent 2022-2023 global mpox outbreak. COH04S1 could represent a new tool for vaccinating against COVID-19 and mpox with just one injection. COH04S1 is licensed to Geovax laboratories (NASDAQ: GOVX) for COVID-19 and mpox.

In 2020, researchers at City of Hope developed a fully synthetic platform of the highly attenuated modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector that is virtually identical to the form used in the JYNNEOS vaccine. MVA is a strain of a type of poxvirus used to deliver genes to cells that help the body figure out how to fight a virus. The scientists established a virtually identical replica of MVA and used it to make a multiantigen COVID-19 vaccine that is now in Phase 2 clinical trials and represents the most clinically advanced MVA-based COVID-19 vaccine.

Because the vaccine uses a poxvirus replica, the team wanted to see if it also protected against mpox, and found that it does. In fact, they found that mice vaccinated with COH04S1 or just the synthetic MVA both were protected from lung infection after being exposed to a globally circulating strain of mpox, further proving that the synthetic MVA shares virtually identical properties to the natural MVA.

While mpox is not an emergency at the moment, it is reemerging in various locales worldwide (Africa and Asia) and other poxvirus strains with pandemic potential could occur in the future. The COH04S1 vaccine could protect against different poxvirus strains and has the potential to be used as a dual vaccine that can be effective against COVID-19 and mpox disease. Furthermore, because the basic vaccine design can be modified, there could be multiple applications in which vaccines are made for other infectious disease indications but always include background protection against mpox.

The researchers also believe that COH04S1 could serve as an alternative to JYNNEOS in the face of a large outbreak or vaccine shortage, as viral vector vaccine production is hard to scale up rapidly. Immunocompromised individuals are more susceptible to mpox infection symptoms. Because COH04S1 uses the synthetic MVA vector that has been safely tested in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients, it could also serve as a much-needed option for this population and other immunocompromised populations, such as people living with HIV and cancer.

The research team is actively moving forward with plans to develop COH04S1 as an alternative to JYNNEOS and are currently producing it in a cell line for vaccinations. They would also like to develop a clinical trial to do a direct comparison of COH04S1 and JYNNEOS to see if there are differences in response rates and mechanisms.

Flavia Chiuppesi, Ph.D., formerly at City of Hope, is the study's lead author. Study author Felix Wussow, Ph.D., City of Hope assistant research professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, is an inventor and developer of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the synthetic vaccine platform, along with Diamond and Chiuppesi. John Zaia, M.D., the Aaron D. Miller and Edith Miller Chair in Gene Therapy at City of Hope, is the paper's second author. Diamond is the principal investigator of these studies and a paid consultant for Geovax.

More information: Flavia Chiuppesi et al, Synthetic modified vaccinia Ankara vaccines confer cross-reactive and protective immunity against mpox virus, Communications Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43856-024-00443-9

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Scientists report positive immune response against mpox using a COVID-19 vaccine - Medical Xpress

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What is Mpox? Potential monkey pox exposure at school in Port Richmond - Toowoomba Chronicle

Children and adults at one Philadelphia public school were potentially exposed to a staffer with a documented case of monkeypox but the staffer is recovered and now back at school.

The exposure happened at Richmond Elementary School, where a teacher with a confirmed case of the virus works.

Monkeypox, sometimes known as mpox, is spread through skin-to-skin contact with an infected person who has sores or scabs. Symptoms including fever, headache, muscle aches, and rash that can range from mild to very painful appear a week to two weeks after exposure. Though not a sexually transmitted disease, mpox is most often spread through sexual contact. There have been no reported cases or symptoms among Richmond students or staff.

READ MORE: Are you at risk of getting monkeypox? Heres everything you need to know.

People with mpox are contagious until their rashes scab over and the scabs fall off.

Out of an abundance of caution, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health notified select members of your school community of a potential low-level exposure to mpox, said a letter from the Richmond principal sent to staff Friday. It is very unlikely that people with low-level exposure will develop mpox. If you did not receive a notification letter from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, you have no exposure risk.

The principal, in the letter, said the school has taken the necessary precautions to protect students and staff.

Kendra McDow, the districts chief medical officer, stressed in an interview that the risk of transmission was minimal. She praised the staffer for coming forward earlier in February, and said once officials were notified of the staffers health status, they immediately notified the city health department, which conducted an investigation. The staffer remained out of the building during the contagion period.

Oz Hill, the districts chief operating officer, said officials were in contact with the city to discuss cleaning protocols, and that our routine standard cleaning certainly doubled down to ensure that all supplies in the school were adequately stocked and the staff was certainly familiar and appropriately trained.

According to city health department data, four cases of mpox were reported a week in Philadelphia in January. Altogether, 587 cases have been reported since June 2022.

James Garrow, a spokesperson for the city health department, said officials are still seeing sporadic cases in the city, one or two per week, if that, but nothing like we had a couple years ago when we saw dozens and dozens. We continue to do efforts to encourage folks who would be at high risk to get vaccines.

More than 8,000 first doses of the mpox vaccine have been administered in recent years.

Garrow stressed that the Richmond case was a very low-risk type of situation and said the health department worked closely with the district.

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Kids and staff at one Philly school were potentially exposed to monkey pox, but health officials say the risk is 'very low' - The Philadelphia...

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodia logged one more case of mpox, also known as monkeypox, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 10 since last December, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Laboratory results from the National Institute of Public Health showed on Monday that another man was positive for mpox, so the total confirmed cases of the disease in Cambodia have increased to 10," the ministry said.

The patient, who lives in Phnom Penh's Dangkao district, has been undergoing proper treatment at a hospital.

The ministry said the trend of mpox transmission in the South-East Asian country is on the rise, renewing calls for people to be extra vigilant.

It said mpox virus is transmitted from person to person through all forms of sexual contact with a person with mpox and through direct contact with wounds, body fluids, saliva, and equipment contaminated with the virus.

It added that mpox can be passed from mother to child through an umbilical cord during or after birth if a pregnant woman has the disease. - Xinhua

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Rising issue - Cambodia records 10th confirmed case of monkey pox - The Star Online

Mpox, formerly known as monkey pox. (Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) announced on Tuesday, Feb. 6 that a Milwaukee resident recently tested positive for mpox. It is the first identified case of mpox in Milwaukee since June 2023.

Health officials say the Milwaukee resident tested positive on Friday, Feb. 2. MHD officials are in contact with the individual, who is isolating and following all recommended guidance and has notified all close contacts.

A news release says from July 2022 through now, there have been 40 positive cases of mpox in the City of Milwaukee. Prior to July 2022, Milwaukee did not see any mpox cases for many years.

Officials say mpox can be contracted through close personal contact with symptomatic individuals. Anyone can spread mpox, regardless of sexual orientation, though current tracking suggests that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men make up a high number of cases. Those at risk include (but are not limited to) men who have sex with men, who have more than one sexual partner, and those who have sex with them, regardless of gender.

Characterized by a painful rash or sores resembling pimples or blisters, accompanied by flu-like symptoms, mpox manifests within three weeks of exposure. The contagious period extends from symptom onset until the rash completely heals, scabs fall off, and new skin forms. Recovery typically occurs within two to four weeks.

FILE%20-%20A%20health%20care%20worker%20prepares%20a%20monkeypox%20vaccine%20in%20Montreal,%20Saturday,%20July%2023,%202022.%20(Graham%20Hughes/The%20Canadian%20Press%20via%20AP,%20File)

To curb the spread of mpox, individuals at risk are advised to:

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Milwaukee resident tests positive for mpox, marks 40 cases since summer 2022 - Fox11online.com