Mpox Outbreaks In Africa Might Be Contained In Six Months

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director stated on Friday that the organization’s first vaccine shipment should reach Congo in a few days and that the organization thinks the ongoing mpox epidemics in Africa might be contained in the next six months.

Just a small portion of the vaccinations required to stop the virus’s spread have been given to Africa thus far, particularly to the Congo, which has the highest number of cases—more than 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths—than any other country.

WHO Director-General; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated during a news conference, “With the governments’ leadership and close cooperation between partners, we believe we can stop these outbreaks in the next six months.”

Despite a sharp increase in mpox infections over the past three weeks, he claimed that the number of fatal cases has been very low. Tedros also reported that patients with the most recent strain of mpox, found in Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Sweden, and Thailand, accounted for 258 of the cases.

WHO deemed the ongoing mpox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency earlier this month in an effort to ignite a forceful, international reaction to the illness on a continent where cases, like those in Nigeria, were spreading mainly undetected for years.

A new strain of the disease was found in the Congo in May, and scientists believe it may be spreading more quickly now. Although it usually causes lesser symptoms including fever, headaches, and body aches, mpox, sometimes known as monkeypox, is linked to smallpox.

People may get excruciating blisters and sores on their hands, genitalia, chest, and face in extreme circumstances. Most often, close skin-to-skin contact is how the mpox is transferred.

According to WHO estimates, 230,000 vaccinations could be shipped “imminently” to the Congo and other countries.

It is also developing educational programs to inform people about ways to prevent the spread of mpox in nations where outbreaks are occurring, according to the agency.

Given the limited number of vaccines available, Maria Van Kerkhove, the director of WHO’s epidemic and pandemic diseases department, stated that the organization was striving to speed vaccine access for impacted nations.

Scientists have previously noted that it might be challenging to determine the optimal way to administer the vaccinations in the absence of a deeper comprehension of how mpox is spreading throughout Africa.

The head of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated earlier this week that the region hoped to get the about 380,000 doses of mpox vaccines that donors, like the US and the EU, had promised. Less than 15% of the doses required, according to officials, are required to put an end to the mpox outbreaks in the Congo.