HEALTH leaders are poised to declare an international public health emergency as an ultra-deadly touch-spread strain of smallpox begins to cross borders.
The strain has been detected in two new countries in the past few weeks after the number of cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been on the rise for months.
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Health chiefs are considering declaring a second global health emergency
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Jean Kakuru Biyambo, 48, father being treated for measles at Goma General Hospital Credit: Reuters
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dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, of the WHO, fears the international spread of a more deadly strain of smallpox Credit: AFP
dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, of the World Health Organization (WHO), wrote on X on Wednesday that experts are concerned that the mutant bug has “the potential for further international spread within and beyond Africa.”
He added: “I am considering convening an International Health Regulations emergency committee to advise me on whether the measles outbreak should be declared a public health emergency of international concern.”
Mpox is a viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms and purulent lesions.
And until a few years ago, most cases were recorded in Central and West Africa.
But in 2022, the WHO declared a public health emergency, when a strain of mpox called clade 2 caused a global outbreak affecting more than 100 countries – including the UK.
DRC has been fighting its own variant, called “clade 1a”, for decades.
This version is more deadly, with a fatality rate of about five percent for adults and 10 percent for children, compared to three percent for its predecessor.
In April, alarm bells rang when scientists in Kamituga, a small mining town in DR Congo, found a new strain of smallpox with “pandemic potential” that was easier to catch.
A new fault, called “clade 1b” is behind the recent increase in cases in the east of the country.
The DRC has reported more than 29,000 cases and 1,100 deaths – the vast majority of them children – since the start of 2023.
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Kenya registered one case of clade 1b mpox at the end of last month.
And over the weekend, Uganda announced that the first two cases had been detected.
Rwanda and Burundi also recently reported their first cases of measles, although it is not yet known which strain.
Like clade 2, most new infections in DR Congo appear to be sexually transmitted.
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But there were also cases of the spread of the new bug just by touch in schools and workplaces.
Vaccines and treatments have previously been used to combat the global epidemic, but are not available in many countries, including Congo.
Earlier this month, authorities said he reached the capital Goma, which has an international airport with frequent direct flights to and from Europe.
“Pathogens know no borders,” Ben Oppenheim, a global health expert and senior director of the US company Ginkgo Biosecurity, told the Sun earlier.
“Goma is an important regional transit point, which increases the risk of the virus spreading regionally and potentially globally – including Europe and the UK,” he said.
Trudie Lang, professor of global health research at the University of Oxford, added: “It is entirely possible that people with the infection and who are contagious could come on a flight and spread this elsewhere.”
Symptoms of chicken pox that have nothing to do with spots
The most obvious symptom of smallpox is freckles.
According to the NHS, these lesions go through four stages, from flat spots to raised spots, to blisters to scabs.
But people are also likely to experience flu-like symptoms, which will appear between five and 21 days after infection.
Symptoms often disappear on their own within two to four weeks.
The NHS says this includes:
- Inflammation of the rectum (proctitis) – for example, pain or bleeding from the back passage
- High temperature (fever)
- Headache
- Flu-like symptoms, including muscle and back pain, chills, and fatigue
- Swollen glands that feel like new lumps (in the neck, armpit or groin)
If you have any of these symptoms and believe you may have monkeypox, you should stay home, avoid close contact with others, and seek medical help by phone until you are evaluated.
There are some complications associated with mpox, such as bacterial infection of skin lesions, mpox affecting the brain (encephalitis), heart (myocarditis) or lungs (pneumonia)
Mpox in the UK
Government figures show that in 2022 there were 3,553 cases of measles in the UK.
The Department of Health said: “The outbreak was mainly among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men without a documented history of travel to endemic countries.”
But cases have fallen sharply in the past six months as a result of vaccinations and testing.
At the time of writing, only 20 cases have been reported in the UK in 2023.
I traded monkey pox for Covid – I’ve never been in so much pain
A MAN who contracted measles in 2022 first believed he had Covid before experiencing painful symptoms that left him fearing for his life.
Harun Tulunay, a 35-year-old charity worker, experienced extreme symptoms that kept him in hospital for almost two weeks.
Harun, who lives in London, first started showing flu-like symptoms in early June 2022, such as high fever, chills and muscle aches.
After recently contracting Covid, he was “convinced” he had contracted the virus again, he told The Sun. “But every test I took came back negative.”
A few days later, the charity worker developed a red and white rash on his body that resembled an allergic reaction, which he said was “nothing like the pictures of monkeypox you see on the internet”.
Only after a few days, he also noticed a painless spot on his nose, which he assumed was a mosquito bite or a pimple.
Harun works in sexual health so he is well versed in monkey pox and its symptoms, but he had never seen his rash or spot associated with the disease so he didn’t think he might have it.
A few days later, Harun’s health deteriorated as his temperature reached 40C. “No amount of painkillers would relieve the pain,” he said.
At that moment, Haruna’s tonsils swelled and his throat hurt badly.
“I couldn’t breathe, swallow or speak,” he said.
“I vividly remember calling the hospital and crying in pain.”
Harun was finally transferred to the hospital where he was placed in isolation.
His test confirmed that he had monkeypox, and it was only then that the lesions often associated with monkeypox began to appear on his hands, legs and feet.
“My throat was covered,” he said, explaining that the wound on his nose was larger and had become infected.
“I was afraid I was going to die alone in the hospital room,” he said. “I’ve never had so much pain in my life.”
“I remember looking at the water bottle and crying because I couldn’t drink it,” he added.
Harun has now fully recovered.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education