This declaration follows a declaration from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Africa. Significantly, Sweden and Pakistan have reported their initial cases, indicating the spread of this more infectious variant outside Africa. Nearly 100,000 cases and 1,100 deaths have been reported in 116 countries since 2022.
The outbreak includes two variants of the virus in Congo:
A local version and a new, understudied version. The variant has spread through sex and close contact, which has also affected children in displacement camps in Congo and neighboring countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
The transmission of mpox can occur through direct contact with infected wounds, contaminated objects such as clothing or linen, and animal-to-human interactions such as cutting or wildlife handling.
Symptoms, which appear 7 to 21 days after exposure, include rashes, fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes, which usually resolve within 2-4 weeks. The disease is more severe for people with weakened immune systems.
This high alert follows the detection of a new Mpox variant that is reportedly more infectious and deadly than the previous one. The two groups of mpox differ significantly in intensity. Clade 2 from West Africa has a mortality rate of up to 1% while clade | The death rate in Central Africa can be seen to be up to 10%.
In response to the growing situation, who aims to mobilize international resources to control the disease at its source. Furthermore, global surveillance and open source pandemic intelligence are important, especially in areas with limited testing capabilities. This approach can help prevent the spread of the disease by monitoring symptoms such as lungs and fever in populations.