Monkeypox outbreak, WHO holds emergency meeting to assess pandemic risk

Monkeypox cases have been reported in at least nine European countries – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK – as well as the US, Canada and Australia. .

Spain reported 24 new cases on May 20, mainly in the Madrid region.

An Israeli hospital is treating a man in his 30s with similar symptoms after arriving from Western Europe.

It is known that the disease is common in West and Central Africa, so the series of new infections in Europe raises many concerns.

Monkeypox is commonly spread from wild animals in some tropical areas of Africa. However, it is also capable of being transmitted from animals to humans. Scientists do not yet know which species is the natural reservoir of the monkeypox virus. Meanwhile, WHO surmised that it could be rodents.

“Contact with live and dead animals through hunting and consumption of wild game or meat are risk factors,” the WHO warned.

The incubation period for monkeypox can be from 6 to 21 days. The initial manifestations of the disease are fever, headache, body aches, and weakness. Patients develop a rash, which usually appears first on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body and forms scabs.

However, scientists do not think this outbreak will evolve into a pandemic like Covid-19, because the virus does not spread as easily as SARS-COV-2.

The WHO committee met to discuss the issue, chaired by the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Pandemic Potentially Infectious Hazards (STAG-IH), which advises on pandemics The risk of infection could threaten global health.

According to a report at the meeting, the disease has not been declared a state of emergency, WHO’s highest form of alert, currently being applied to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It seems that at this point, the risk remains relatively low,” a senior US administration official said.

Spread in the community

Fabian Leendertz, from the Robert Koch Institute, described the outbreak: “It is very unlikely that this outbreak will last long. Cases can be well isolated through contact tracing, and also with medications. and effective vaccines to use if necessary,” he said.

However, Leendertz is concerned that the number of cases could increase in the area as people gather for summer parties and festivals.

According to WHO, there is no specific vaccine for monkeypox, but data show that vaccines used to prevent smallpox are up to 85% effective against monkeypox.

British authorities say they have provided a smallpox vaccine to some health care workers and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox.