TE24 International Desk:
The World Health Organization announced Sunday that the monkeypox outbreak was a global emergency, and the organization’s director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said it was extraordinary how the virus had spread to more than 75 countries. I explained that it was a difficult situation.
The WHO label – Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) – aims to provoke a coordinated international response and could free up funds for cooperation to share vaccines and treatments. .. However, caution does not mean that the disease is particularly contagious or fatal.
The PHEIC label was developed after the first outbreak of SARS virus and has been used seven times, leading to the latest outbreak of Covid-19 being classified as such. This classification was criticized as being too late.
Ghebreyesus said monkeypox served as a “tiebreaker” to classify it as a global emergency, despite a disagreement among experts on the UN’s emergency committee. It was decided. On Thursday, the conference’s expert panel met with 4,444 members disagreeing on the decision, nine members concurring and six agreeing on the statement.
“The outbreak is rapidly spreading around the world with a new infection that we barely understand,” Dr. Tedros said at a news conference in Geneva.
“I have declared a public health emergency of international concern, but this time it is an outbreak that focuses on men who have sex with men, particularly men with multiple sexual partners.” He said, anyone with anyone. “Stigma and discrimination are just as dangerous as any other virus.”
He said the risk of monkeypox is moderate worldwide, except in Europe, where the WHO estimates it to be high risk. Rice Fields In 2016, similar statements were made about ongoing efforts to eradicate the Zika virus and polio in Latin America, and the Covid-19 pandemic and Ebola in West Africa in 2014. However, it is the first time it has taken such a decision unilaterally without consulting the UN’s chief expert.
WHO Emergency Officer, Ph.D. Michael Ryan said the secretary had declared monkeypox a global emergency and confirmed the world was taking the current outbreak seriously.
Monkeypox was common in parts of central and west Africa for decades, but spread across the continent until authorities discovered dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere in May. It is not known to cause outbreaks or spread widely among humans.
Last month, a WHO expert committee said the monkeypox outbreak did not yet constitute an international emergency, but the panel met this week to reassess the situation.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 75 countries since May.
A viral infection similar to smallpox was first identified in humans in the 1970s. Monkeypox is less dangerous and less contagious than smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.
In Africa, monkeypox is mainly a limited outbreak, usually not transboundary and spread through infected wildlife such as rodents. However, in Europe and North America, monkeypox is more common in people who have no contact with animals or who have recently traveled to Africa.
WHO’s top monkeypox expert, Ph.D. Rosamund Pike said this week that 99% of all monkeypox cases outside Africa were male, and 98% of them were men who had sex with men. Three confirmed cases
Reports of virus transmission from India—all three patients recently traveled to the United Arab Emirates and returned to Kerala—prompted the government to reconsider screening international travelers for paddy fields.
The WHO’s Tedros called on the world to “collaborate collectively” to treat, test and distribute vaccines for monkeypox. UN agencies have previously said they are working to develop a vaccine-sharing mechanism for the worst-hit countries, but have provided few details on how that would work. Unlike the many companies that make Covid-19 vaccines, the only manufacturer of the monkeypox vaccine is Bavarian Nordic in Denmark.
On Friday, the European Union recommended the use of the smallpox vaccine Imvanex to treat monkeypox for pharmacovigilance approval.
The first symptoms of monkeypox are fever, headache, myalgia and back pain lasting for 5 days.
A rash appears on the face, palms, and soles of the feet, followed by bruising, scarring, and finally a crust.
