The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the highly infectious disease Mpox a global health emergency for the second time in two years.
The disease, formerly known as monkeypox, killed at least 450 people when it first broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Now that it has spread to parts of central and east Africa, scientists are worried about how quickly the new variant is spreading and its high mortality rate.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the possibility of further spread in Africa and beyond was “very worrying”.
“A coordinated international response is critical to stopping the outbreak and saving lives,” he said.
By declaring the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency, it is hoped that research, funding and the implementation of other international public health measures will be accelerated.
There are two main strains of the virus circulating.
Type I clade is prevalent in central Africa, but type Ib clade is New, more virulent forms of the virusone scientist described it as “the most dangerous yet”.
It is spread through close contact with an infected person, such as through sex, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing in close proximity to others.
disease May cause systemic diseasewhich can be fatal in some cases.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has had more than 13,700 cases and at least 450 deaths since the beginning of the year.
The virus has since been detected in other African countries, including Burundi, Central African Republic, Kenya and Rwanda.
This is not the first time the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency due to an MPO outbreak – iIn July 2022, a milder strain called Clade II spread to nearly 100 countriesincluding some in Europe and Asia.
By vaccinating vulnerable groups, the epidemic was brought under control.
On Tuesday, scientists at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Declaring a public health emergency.
The head of the organization, Jean Casea, warned that the disease could spiral out of control if immediate steps are not taken to contain the outbreak.
“We must be proactive in our efforts to contain and eliminate this threat,” he said.
