Mpox outbreak in Africa is public health emergency resembling early days of HIV, says WHO
Outbreak resembles early days of HIV, say experts, urging accelerated access to vaccines and testing
Kat Lay Global health correspondent
Wed 14 Aug 2024 19.43 CEST
An outbreak in Africa of mpox, the disease formerly known as monkeypox, resembles the early days of HIV, scientists have said, as the World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency.
The declaration must accelerate access to testing, vaccines and therapeutic drugs in the affected areas, medical experts urged, and kickstart campaigns to reduce stigma surrounding the virus.
More resources for research were also vital, they said, with “massive unknowns” about a new variant spreading between people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 4 August, there had been 38,465 cases of mpox and 1,456 deaths in Africa since January 2022, including more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in the DRC alone this year.
These included clades I and II of the virus, as well as a new type, clade Ib – an offshoot of clade I, which appears to be driving the outbreak in the DRC and neighbouring countries, and to which children appear particularly vulnerable.
The World Health Organization said the outbreak was serious enough to declare a “public health emergency of international concern”, the category used in the past for Ebola outbreaks, Covid-19 and a 2022 mpox surge in Europe.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said the situation was “very worrying” and warranted the “highest level of alarm under international health law”. He highlighted the emergence of clade Ib in the east of the DRC and its detection in neighbouring countries.
The WHO has released $1.5m from its contingency fund and plans to release more, he said, calling for donors to step up to fund the rest of the $15m needed for its efforts in the region.
Trudie Lang, a professor of global health research at Oxford University, said: “I have heard so many people refer to this as being very similar to the early days of HIV.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/artic ... clares-who