Mpox Outbreak To Be Declared Public Health Emergency? Ahead of WHO Meeting on Africa Situation, Know Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Preventive Measures

Mumbai, August 8: First reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Mpox Virus is spreading alarmingly across Africa and has now reached the neighbouring countries of Uganda and Kenya. As the cases surge rapidly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is considering to declare the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency. The virus was declared a global emergency even in 2022 when it had spread to more than 70 countries.

Earlier known as the "monkeypox virus", Mpox is a zoonotic virus of Orthopoxovirus genus first discovered in 1958. So far in 2024, around 1,200 deaths have been reported in over 27,000 cases. According to Al Jazeera, "The disease appears especially prevalent among the young, with 70% of cases and 85% of deaths in the DRC occurring among children under the age of 15."

WHO Decides To Meet on Africa’s Mpox Outbreak

Causes and Symptoms of Mpox Virus:

The Mpox virus is caused when an individual or an animal is infection by the Monkeypox virus. It can spread from animals to humans, via other infected individuals and even via contact with contaminated objects like fabrics. Mpox in Sweden: European Country Confirms 1st Case of ‘More Contagious’ Monkeypox Virus.

The first symptoms of the Mpox virus appears typically from the 7th day after exposure. The major symptoms include fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, muscle aches, fatigue, and back pain. As per WHO, if left untreated, Mpox symptoms can further exaggerate into serious cases of pneumonia, with repeated vomiting, difficulty in swallowing food, corneal infections causing vision loss and encephalitis, cardiomegaly, and hemorrhoids. It reduces the fighting capacity of the body and weakens the immune system too. The symptoms can last for 2 to 4 weeks.

What Is the Available Treatment for Mpox?

Although so far, there is no specific antiviral treatment for the Mpox virus, symptoms can be alleviated via supportive care such as ensuring adequate fluid intake and using pain and fever with over-the-counter medications. One can even be administered antiviral treatments like tecovirimat in the worse cases.

How Can Mpox Infection Be Prevented?

Mpox virus can be prevented by avoiding contact with infected animals and individuals along with maintaining proper personal and spatial hygiene. Additionally, wearing protective clothing in high-risk areas is also suggested. In case of contracting the virus, the infected individuals should further isolate to prevent spreading the virus. Mpox: Wastewater Detections Show Monkeypox Virus Likely Underestimated, More Virus DNA Present Than Expected.

Amidst rising cases of the Mpox virus, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has arranged an emergency meeting of independent experts. He wrote on X earlier, "The committee will meet as soon as possible and will be made up of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2024 05:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).