Monkeypox virus sweeps across the globe

The rapid outbreak of monkeypox in multiple African countries has prompted the World Health Organization to raise the highest level of alert. The United Nations agency has declared a serious outbreak of viral disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the epidemic has entered a global health emergency. At present, the epidemic has spread to at least four neighboring countries that have not been reported before.

First of all, the African poxvirus has recently made headlines and has been confirmed in many African countries, including Burundi, Cameroon, the Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya. The statement from the World Health Organization follows earlier this week's decision by the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to declare monkeypox a public health emergency. This year, the Democratic Republic of Congo has reported over 15600 cases of mosquito borne virus and 537 deaths, a situation that the Director General of the World Health Organization has described as very concerning.

Secondly, although monkeypox outbreaks are not uncommon in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the number of cases has rapidly increased, with the same number of cases reported to the World Health Organization in the past six months as for the entire year of last year. Outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, type 1b virus has been found in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, while other forms of monkeypox virus continue to spread in Central Africa, East Africa and other parts of the African continent. The World Health Organization stated that there have been multiple outbreaks of different types, modes of transmission, and levels of risk, with confirmed cases in 13 countries. According to data from the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, children are the most severely affected: nearly 70% of cases and 85% of deaths this year occurred in children under the age of 15.

On the other hand, across the border, the surge of monkeypox virus has prompted World Health Organization leaders to declare a global health emergency for the second time since 2022. Monkeypox (formerly known as monkeypox) is a virus that has swept through Central and West Africa, and as cases increase, concerns are growing. This virus is similar to smallpox, but less toxic. It is transmitted from animals to humans. We saw the same virus emerge in 2022, but there is a key difference that makes the danger greater now than before, and that is the strain of the virus.

In addition, when a disease outbreak is considered serious and unusual, has the potential to cross national borders, and may require international action to contain it, it will be declared a public health emergency of international concern. So far, no cases related to the latest outbreak have been found outside of Central and East Africa. Although Australian health authorities are concerned about outbreaks anywhere in the world, monkeypox poses a greater risk in resource limited environments where the ability to prevent and control the virus is more challenging.

Overall, although the CDC's statement is only at the regional level, the World Health Organization will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss whether this epidemic poses a global threat and whether to declare it a public health emergency of international concern. In South Africa, the event management team established by the Director General of Health, co chaired by Reese, has managed to obtain an antiviral drug through the World Health Organization. The drug is being used to treat 24 confirmed patients in the country, however, vaccines are still needed to help people gain immunity.