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a type of new model of Gluten The virus, known as “clade 1b,” appears to be more deadly than previous strains and spreads more easily between people. The infection fatality rate is as high as 10%. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the situation in central Africa is now “high risk.”
Mpox, formally known as Monkeypoxis an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus.
The 1b mpox virus clade was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Central Africa, where the disease began to spread in September 2023.
Since then, Cameroon and the Central African Republic have also reported cases of infection. (car)and Rwanda. In early August 2024, new cases in Uganda and Kenya were also linked to clade 1b.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was convening a committee of experts to advise on whether to declare an international emergency, as it does during a global pandemic. mpox outbreak in 2022.
On August 4, 2024, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on the X social media platform that as “more deadly strains of swine fever virus spread to several African countries,” the WHO, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local governments are “stepping up their response efforts to block the spread of the disease.”
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, from the beginning of 2022 to July 28, 2024, a total of 37,583 cases of mpox and 1,451 deaths were reported in 15 African countries.
What are the mpox clades?
Mpox is divided into two distinct clades: clade I and clade II.
The more toxic and deadly Clade I is endemic to the Congo Basin in Central Africa. Clade II is endemic to West Africa.
Clade II is the type that caused the global outbreak that began in 2022. Clade II mpox infections are less severe, with more than 99.9% of people surviving.
Clade I strains cause more severe illness and death, with a mortality rate of about 3%, but health experts in the Democratic Republic of Congo say clade 1b strains can kill up to 10% of children.
Type 1b strains cause a rash that appears all over the body, while lesions and rashes in other strains are usually limited to the mouth, face, and genitals.
Both mpox lineages are spread through close contact with an infected person. This includes talking and breathing near an infected person—through so-called “droplets,” as we learned during the COVID outbreak.
Mpox can also be spread sexually — in fact, it is one of the main ways it is spread — but health experts do not consider the disease to be a Sexually transmitted infections.
High mortality rate among children in Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been particularly affected by cases of MPOX type 1b. More than 13,000 people have been infected.
The vast majority of deaths (85%) occurred in children under the age of 15, accounting for 68% of cases. The disease was more common in males, who accounted for 73% of all reported cases.
Authorities in all four countries have confirmed cases of clade 1b mpox, but most have not yet specified the strain causing the suspected mpox infections.
African cowpox outbreak ‘high risk’
Although African swine fever is moderately contagious and dangerous, the mortality rate on the African continent is much higher compared to other parts of the world.
“Although safe and effective vaccine and antiviral treatment for MPOX, which are not readily available to most (African Union member states). Therefore, we rank the risk level as high,” the Africa CDC wrote in a July 30, 2024 report.
From January to the end of July 2024, a total of 14,250 cases (2,745 confirmed and 11,505 suspected) and 456 deaths were reported in 10 African countries.
This means that the number of cases and deaths in 2024 increased by 160% and 19% respectively compared to the same period in 2023.
The report shows that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a hotspot for swine pox cases, accounting for 96.3% of all cases reported this year and 97% of all deaths.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), July 29, 2024, stated that the risk to the European region was “very low”.
Editor: Zulfikar Abani
Primary Resources:
Report: “MPox Situation in Africa” (Africa CDC, 30 July 2024) https://africacdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MPox-Situation-in-Africa.pdf
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