United States: A WHO official underscored on Tuesday that mpox is not the new Covid in either of its strain forms – the new one or the old one – because there is an understanding of how to halt the spread of the condition.
More about the news
According to Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, “We can and must tackle mpox together,” as Reuters reported.
He added, “So will we choose to put the systems in place to control and eliminate mpox globally? Or we will enter another cycle of panic and neglect? How we respond now and in the years to come will prove a critical test for Europe and the world.”
More about the disease
The disease, known as Mpox, is a viral infection that presents with symptoms of flu and skin sores that fill with pus; the disease is normally mild but is fatal.
The clade 1b variety has raised global concern because it appears to transmit easily through normal social interactions, with ease.
The variant was detected in a case last week in Sweden and associated with a rising epidemic in Africa, the initial evidence of its emergence beyond the continent.
A new variant of this disease was identified recently, and the WHO characterized the recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern, as Reuters reported.
What more have the experts stated?
Kluge said that the priority placed on the new Clade 1 also assists in the fight with a less dangerous type of Clade 2, which started to spread worldwide in 2022, as Europe is able to give better health recommendations and investigations.
Kluge said about a hundred new cases of the clade two mpox strain are now being reported in the European region every month.
The conditions in which Mpox spreads are through touch, such as sexual contact, but contrary to COVID-19, Mpox does not spread airborne.
Officials of ministries of health must remain on the lookout and operational if other new and or more transmissible clades or those that alter their mode of transmission emerge; however, there isn’t any suggestion that people should wear masks, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said.