WHO warns monkey pox could spread around the world again – Khmer Times

Seven months after the World Health Organization (WHO) downgraded monkey pox from a global threat, an outbreak in Africa could go beyond the continents borders.

After a year in which nearly 90,000 people were infected with monkey pox, and 140 people died, the WHO downgraded the disease in May 2023 from its status as a global health emergency.

Monkey pox, also known as mpox, had spread rapidly in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic when awareness of public health was at a maximum.

Monkey pox continues to pose significant public health challenges that need a robust, proactive and sustainable response, said WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the time. And he was right.

By mid-December last year, the WHO was sounding the monkey pox alarm again.

On December 15, the WHO warned that an epidemic of monkey pox in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could spread internationally, as a rise in sexual transmissions had been detected.

Japans health ministry reported two days earlier on December 13 that the country had seen its first fatality from monkey pox.

The patient had a prior infection with HIV and no travel history, said the health ministry in a statement, and it was not immediately clear how they had become infected.

There are ongoing outbreaks in Asia in Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam and China so, the case neednt have come from Africa.

But Rosamund Lewis, the WHOs technical lead for monkey pox, said the organisation was concerned about further international transmission from the DRC.

There was a rapidly expanding outbreak in the country, she explained, with more than 13,000 suspected cases of the disease more than 1,000 per month and up to or more than 600 deaths so far.

While monkey pox can be transmitted sexually, experts do not describe the disease as a sexually transmitted infection (STI). But sex is one of the main transmission routes.

The WHOs official advice states that monkey pox is spread by close contact with an infected person. That includes talking and breathing near an infected person via droplets as we learned during the COVID pandemic, but also via sexual activity.

(S)kin-to-skin (touching or vaginal/anal sex); mouth-to-mouth (such as kissing); or mouth-to-skin contact (such as oral sex or kissing the skin). During the global outbreak that began in 2022, the virus mostly spread through sexual contact, states the WHO.

It can also spread via cuts, lesions and contact with mucous membranes washing hands after any such contact, and disinfecting surfaces, is essential for preventing the spread of monkey pox.

Monkey pox can also be transmitted from animals to humans, for instance if an infected animal is consumed by a human but the meat is not sufficiently cooked.

There are indications that monkey pox can also spread from humans to animals, such as pets, but the evidence is inconclusive.

Monkey pox is an infectious virus that experts now prefer to call mpox to avoid associations with monkeys or the idea that it does not affect people.

It was first discovered in 1958 among monkeys used for research in a Danish laboratory.

The first reported human case of the disease was in a nine-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.

A common symptom of the disease is a rash that persists for 2-4 weeks. The rash often a blister or as sores can affect the face, palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and groin, genital and anal regions of the body.

The extent of the rash can range from just a few blisters to thousands, with lesions found in the mouth, throat, rectum and vagina hence, that heightened risk of transmission through sexual activity.

Further symptoms are typical of other viral infections: fever, headache, muscle pain, low energy, and swollen glands.

In severe cases, monkey pox has been linked to secondary bacterial infections, and can spread to the lungs, eyes, brain and heart.

The monkey pox mortality rate lies between 0.1% and 10% of cases.

There is an antiviral medication called tecovirimat SIGA, which is used to treat monkey pox, cowpox and smallpox the latter is an eradicated disease.

The European Medicines Agency Europes drug approval body says the three infections are all caused by viruses that belong to the same family, known as orthopoxviruses.

Tecovirimat interferes with a protein (called VP37) found on the surface of the virus and slows down its ability to spread.

There are three vaccines against monkey pox derived through research into smallpox.

Currently, the WHO does not advise mass vaccination against monkey pox.

It says only people who are at risk should be considered for vaccination and people at risk are those who have close contact with an infected person including, but not limited to, sexual partners and healthcare workers.

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WHO warns monkey pox could spread around the world again - Khmer Times