Tag Archives: global health emergency

A new Mpox strain is driving a global health emergency

Important Takeaways:

  • India has confirmed its first case of a deadlier strain of mpox, which has raised alarm among health officials around the world over the rapid pace of its spread.
  • The clade Ib strain of the virus was confirmed by health authorities in the southern state of Kerala after being detected last week in a 38-year-old man who had recently traveled to Dubai.
  • Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO.
  • Symptoms include fever, rash, lesions, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.
  • The virus is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades. Clade II was responsible for a global outbreak that WHO also declared a global health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023. Clade Ib causes more severe disease.
  • Authorities had identified 29 people who came into contact with the patient and they are now in self-quarantine, he said.
  • Some 37 passengers on the flight from Dubai to Kerala and five other close contacts of the patient are being monitored, he added.

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WHO declares Mpox the new Global Health Emergency

Mpox-poster

Important Takeaways:

  • The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders.
  • WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, which already exceed last year’s figures.
  • WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. But the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.
  • Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in a Congolese mining town that can kill up to 10% of people and may spread more easily.
  • Like any infectious disease, the new form of mpox seen in Congo could cross borders — cases have already been identified in four other East African countries.
  • Unlike COVID-19 or measles, mpox is not airborne and typically requires close, skin-to-skin contact to spread.

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