The head of Europe at the World Health Organization has warned that cases of smallpox in the region have tripled in the last two weeks and urged countries to do more to ensure that the previously rare disease does not arches on the continent.
And African health authorities said they are treating the spread of the monkeypox outbreak as an emergency, urging rich countries to share limited supplies of vaccines to avoid the equity problems seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The head of WHO in Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, said in a statement that efforts needed to be stepped up despite the UN health agency’s decision last week that the escalation of the outbreak did not yet justify a global health emergency was declared.
This electron microscopy (MS) image represented a virion of monkeypox, obtained from a clinical sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. It was a fine-section image of a human skin sample. On the left were mature, oval-shaped virus particles, and on the right were crescent moons and spherical particles of immature virions. High resolution: Click here for a high resolution image (5.21 MB) Content providers: CDC / Cynthia S. Goldsmith Date created: 2003 Photo credit: Cynthia S. Goldsmi (AP)
“Urgent and coordinated action is essential if we are to turn a corner in the race to reverse the spread of this disease,” Kluge said.
To date, more than 5,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 51 countries around the world that do not normally report the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kluge said the number of infections in Europe accounts for about 90% of the world total, with 31 countries in the WHO European region having identified cases.
Kluge said the data reported to the WHO show that 99% of cases have been in men, mostly in men who have sex with men.
But he said there were now “a small number” of cases among home contacts, including children.
Most people reported symptoms such as rash, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, vomiting and chills.
Smallpox is traditionally found only in Africa or in people who have recently returned from the continent. (AP)
Scientists warn that anyone who is in close physical contact with someone who has smallpox or their clothes or sheets is at risk of infection.
Vulnerable populations such as children and pregnant women are believed to be more likely to suffer from serious illnesses.
About 10% of patients were hospitalized for treatment or for isolation, and one person was admitted to an intensive care unit. No deaths were reported.
Kluge said the problem of stigmatization in some countries could cause some people to worry about seeking health care and said WHO was working with partners, including organizers of gay pride events.
In the UK, which has the largest outbreak of smallpox beyond Africa, officials have noted that the disease is spreading to “defined sexual networks of gays, bisexuals or men who have sex with men”.
British health authorities said there was no sign to suggest sustained transmission beyond these populations.
A patient whose skin presented with a series of injuries due to what had been an active case of monkeypox. (AP)
An important WHO adviser said in May that the increase in cases in Europe was probably related to the sexual activity of men at two radish festivals in Spain and Belgium.
Prior to the gay pride events in the UK this weekend, London’s leading public health doctor asked people with smallpox symptoms, such as swollen glands or blisters, to stay home.
However, in Africa, the WHO says that according to detailed data from Ghana, cases of monkeypox were divided almost equally between men and women, and no spread has been detected among men. who have sex with men.
WHO Director for Europe Kluge also said the purchase of vaccines “must apply the principles of equity”.
The main vaccine used for smallpox was originally developed for smallpox and the European Medicines Agency said this week that it was starting to assess whether it should be authorized for smallpox.
An electron microscope image shows a smallpox monkey virus, obtained from a sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. (AP)
The WHO has said that supplies of the vaccine, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic, are extremely limited.
Countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany have already begun vaccinating people at high risk for monkeypox; Recently, the UK has expanded its immunization program to mostly gay and bisexual men who have multiple sexual partners and are believed to be the most vulnerable.
Until May, it had never been known that monkeypox caused large outbreaks beyond parts of Central and West Africa, where it has been ill for decades, is endemic to several countries and mainly causes limited outbreaks when it reaches people. of infected wild animals.
To date, there have been some 1,800 suspected cases of monkeypox in Africa, including more than 70 deaths, but only 109 have been confirmed in the laboratory.
Lack of laboratory diagnosis and poor surveillance mean that many cases are not detected.
“This outbreak in particular for us means an emergency,” said Ahmed Ogwell, acting director of the African Centers for Disease Control.
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The WHO says the smallpox of the monkey has spread to African countries where it had not been seen before, such as South Africa, Ghana and Morocco.
But more than 90 percent of the continent’s infections are found in Congo and Nigeria, according to WHO Director-General for Africa Dr. Moeti Matshidiso.
Vaccines have never been used to stop monkeypox outbreaks in Africa; officials have relied primarily on monitoring and isolating contacts.
The WHO noted that, similarly to last year’s fight for COVID-19 vaccines, countries with supplies of monkeypox vaccines do not yet share them with Africa.
“We don’t have any donations that have been offered to (poorer) countries,” said Fiona Braka, who leads the WHO emergency response team in Africa.
“We know that those countries that have some populations, mainly reserve them for their own populations.”
Matshidiso said the WHO was in talks with manufacturers and countries with stocks to see if they could be shared.
“We would like the global focus on monkeypox to act as a catalyst to overcome this disease once and for all in Africa,” he said on Thursday.