WHO faces challenges in fighting MPox

Although the World Health Organization on Monday unveiled a plan to stop the spread of MPOX, scientists studying the virus say it is changing rapidly, complicating efforts to combat its spread.

The six-month, $135 million plan calls for enhanced surveillance, prevention and response. It says strategic vaccination efforts will focus on individuals at highest risk, “including close contacts of recent cases and health care workers to interrupt chains of transmission.”

The World Health Organization said it was “significantly increasing staff” in affected countries.

But WHO noted that the implementation of the plan still faces challenges.

“Particularly in Africa, limited surveillance and diagnostic capacity makes it difficult to understand the true extent of the epidemic and hinders effective responses,” the plan states.

WHO launches plan to curb spread of MPox, says virus can be stopped

Although MPOX has been prevalent in parts of Africa for decades, a global outbreak was reported in 2022. According to the WHO, the virus was under control in May last year, but an offshoot of the virus emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September.

The variant is spreading rapidly, with cases reported in four neighboring countries. Cases with a history of travel to Africa have also been found in Sweden and Thailand. The World Health Organization declared the virus a public health emergency in mid-August.

Anti-MPOX workers try to reach rural villagers in conflict areas

Congo alone has reported more than 18,000 cases, including 615 deaths. The plan lists eastern Congo and neighboring countries as “high risk” areas, especially for vulnerable groups such as sex workers and people displaced by conflict.

Scientists studying the disease in Africa, Europe and the United States told Reuters that the new strain, known as clade 1b, is mutating faster than expected. Early cases were found among sex workers and their clients in Congo, but the groups affected are beginning to change. Now the virus is being found in families and is particularly severe for children, immunocompromised people and pregnant women, according to the WHO.

Dr. Dimi Ogoina, an infectious disease expert at Nigeria’s Niger Delta University Hospital and chair of the World Health Organization’s emergency committee on swine fever, told Reuters he was concerned that “in Africa, we are working too blindly.”

“We don’t understand enough about the outbreak, and if we don’t understand the extent of the outbreak, it’s going to be hard for us to address transmission dynamics, disease severity, disease risk factors, and so on,” he said. “And what I’m concerned about is that the virus appears to be mutating and producing new strains.”

Congo Brazzaville reports 21 cases of smallpox

Sheeppox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox, but usually causes milder symptoms such as fever, chills and body aches. It is mainly spread through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual intercourse. People with more severe illness may develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.

This report draws on materials from the Associated Press and Reuters.

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