Sydney, Aug 15 (The Conversation): The <keyword id="19896311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Health-Organization" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="World Health Organization" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="World Health Organization">World Health Organization</keyword> (<keyword id="19895006" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO" source="keywords">WHO</keyword>) has declared <keyword id="20965747" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="mpox" source="keywords">mpox</keyword> a public health emergency of international concern, after rising cases in the <keyword id="22796094" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo" source="keywords">Democratic Republic of the Congo</keyword> and the potential for further spread. This now triggers a coordinated international response to an extraordinary event and the mobilisation of resources, such as vaccines and diagnostic testing, to curb the spread of this infectious disease. But WHO has not declared mpox a <keyword id="19913581" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pandemic" source="keywords">pandemic</keyword>. Rather, the measures it has triggered are designed to prevent it from becoming one. <h2>What triggered this latest alert?</h2> Mpox, once known as monkeypox, is a viral infection closely related to <keyword id="22362924" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smallpox" source="keywords">smallpox</keyword>. Initial symptoms include a fever, headache, swelling of the lymph nodes and muscle ache. A typical rash follows, mainly on the face, hands and feet. The spread of mpox through certain African countries led the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to declare earlier this week mpox a public health emergency of continental security. This is the first time the organisation has issued such an alert since it was established in 2017. The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa has been particularly worrying for more than a year. There are two types or clades of mpox. Clade II, which originates in west Africa, is less severe. It has a fatality rate of up to 1 per cent (in other words, roughly one in 100 are expected to die from it). But clade I, from central Africa, has a fatality rate of up to 10 per cent (up to one in ten die). This compares to a 0.7 per cent fatality rate for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is seeing large epidemics of the more deadly clade I mpox. Mpox is endemic in some parts of central and west Africa, where the virus exists in animals and can spread to humans. Outbreaks have been increasing, with more human-to-human spread, since 2017. This is partly due to very low levels of immunity to the mpox virus, which is related to the virus that causes smallpox. Mass vaccination against smallpox ceased more than 40 years ago globally, resulting in minimal immunity in populations today against mpox. The WHO designation announced this week relates to the clade I. Not only does this have a higher fatality rate, it has new mutations that enhance spread between people. These changes, and the global lack of immunity to mpox, makes the world's population vulnerable to the virus. <h2>There are two different epidemics</h2> In 2022, an epidemic of mpox swept through non-endemic countries, including beyond Africa. This was a variant of clade II originating from Nigeria, called clade IIb. This was sexually transmitted, predominantly affecting men who have sex with men, and had a low fatality rate. That epidemic peaked in 2022, with vaccines made available to people at risk in high-income countries, but there has been an uptick in 2024. At the same time, large clade I epidemics were occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but with far less attention. Vaccines were not available there, even in 2023, when there were 14,626 cases and 654 deaths. Mortality was 4.5 per cent, and higher in children. In fact, most cases and deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been children. This means most transmission there is non-sexual and is likely to have occurred through close contact or respiratory aerosols. However, in 2023 an <keyword id="20877025" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="outbreak" source="keywords">outbreak</keyword> in a non-endemic part of the country, South Kivu in the east, appeared to be by sexual transmission, indicating more than one epidemic and different transmission modes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By mid-2024, there were already more cases in the country than all of 2023 - more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths. Testing capacity is low in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most cases are not confirmed by lab testing, and the data we have are from a small sample of genomic sequences from the Kamituga region of South Kivu. This show mutations to the clade I virus around September 2023, to a variant termed clade Ib, which is more readily transmissible between people. We do not have much data to compare these viruses with the viruses causing cases in the rest of the country. <h2>Mpox is spreading internationally</h2> In the past month, the virus has spread to countries that share a border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Rwanda and Burundi. It has also spread to other east African countries, such as Kenya and Uganda. None of these countries have had mpox cases previously. In an interconnected, mobile world, cases may spread to other continents, as mpox did in 2018 from Nigeria to the United Kingdom and other countries. A few travel-related cases between 2018 and 2019 may have led to the large multi-country 2022 clade IIb epidemic. <h2>We have vaccines, but not where they are needed</h2> As the mpox virus and smallpox viruses are related (they are both orthopoxviruses), smallpox vaccines offer protection against mpox. These vaccines were used to control the 2022 clade IIb epidemic. However, most of the world has never been vaccinated, and has no immunity to mpox. The newer <keyword id="19959412" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vaccine" source="keywords">vaccine</keyword> (called Jynneos in some countries and Imvamune or Imvanex in others) is effective. However, supplies are limited, and vaccine is scarce in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO's declaration of mpox as a public health emergency of international concern will help mobilise vaccines to where they are needed. The Africa Centres for Disease Control had already begun negotiations to secure 2,00,000 doses of vaccine, which is a fraction of what is required to control the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. <h2>What happens now?</h2> Ultimately, a serious epidemic anywhere in the world is a concern for all of us, as it can spread globally through travel, as we saw with the COVID pandemic. Controlling it at the source is the best measure, and WHO's latest declaration will help mobilise the required resources. Surveillance for spread of this more serious version of mpox is also essential, bearing in mind that many countries do not have the capacity for widespread testing. So we'll have to rely on "suspected cases", based on a clinical definition, to keep track of the epidemic. Open-source epidemic intelligence - such as using AI to monitor trends in rash and fever illness - can also be used as an early warning system in countries with weak health systems or delayed reporting of cases. A further complication is that 20-30 per cent of people with mpox may simultaneously have chickenpox, an unrelated infection that also causes a rash. So an initial diagnosis of chickenpox (which is easier to test for) does not rule out mpox. Effective communication and tackling push-back against public health measures and disinformation is also key. We saw how important this was during the COVID pandemic. Now, WHO will coordinate the global mpox response, focusing on equity in disease prevention and access to diagnostics and vaccines. It is up to individual countries to do their best to comply with the International Health Regulations, and the protocols for how such a global emergency are managed.

WHO has declared mpox a global health emergency. What happens next?

The <keyword id="22667872" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="mpox-outbreak" source="keywords">mpox outbreak</keyword> in <keyword id="19924003" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="africa" source="keywords">Africa</keyword> is yet another example of how <keyword id="20040661" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="infectious-diseases" source="keywords">infectious diseases</keyword>, perceived to be "someone else's problem", and affecting mainly poor, developing countries, may suddenly pose unexpected global threats. Other examples of <keyword id="22817243" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neglected-diseases" source="keywords">neglected diseases</keyword> include the West Nile, Zika and Chikungunya viruses. Mpox was discovered in 1958 (in captive monkeys, hence the original misnomer "monkeypox") and the first human case was identified in 1970. Then, for decades it was largely neglected by the scientific and public health communities, regarded as an uncommon infection in remote rural areas in tropical Africa, without relevance for the rest of the world. When a massive mpox outbreak hit developed countries in 2022, increased research funding led to a surge in scientific studies. On just one medical search engine, there's been more research produced since April 2022 than in the preceding 60 years. The 2022-23 global mpox outbreak happened despite repeated calls from African researchers for increased global investment in diagnostic, therapeutic and infection prevention tools for mpox. The WHO has now declared the current upsurge of mpox in central Africa a <keyword id="21952478" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-health-emergency" source="keywords">public health emergency</keyword> of international concern. This is the highest alert level for events that constitute a public health risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. Mpox's recent history is yet another reminder that an infectious disease in one corner of the world should not be regarded as someone else's problem, as it can suddenly start to spread fast and far. It also highlights global inequities in resource allocation and access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. These were made available in many industrialised countries and helped curb the global outbreak, but are still largely lacking in most of Africa. <h2>The 2022 outbreak: a total surprise</h2>The disease has been renamed "mpox" but the name of the virus, for now, remains "monkeypox" (MPXV). It is closely related to the smallpox virus. MPXV was considered a <keyword id="21311828" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zoonotic-disease" source="keywords">zoonotic disease</keyword> endemic in parts of central and west Africa. It was acquired mainly through close contact with wild mammals, especially handling bush meat, but there was no sustained human-to-human transmission. Only very occasionally were cases seen outside the endemic areas, due to infected travellers or import of infected small mammals. This changed abruptly in 2022: a massive, rapidly evolving global outbreak caused over 99,000 laboratory-confirmed cases in 116 countries. At its peak in August 2022, over 6,000 cases were reported each week. This outbreak came as a total surprise: most cases were reported from non-endemic countries, mostly in men who have sex with men, who had become infected during recent sexual encounters. Even though most cases were clinically not particularly severe and the death toll stands at just over 200, the global outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the <keyword id="19896311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-health-organization" source="keywords">World Health Organization</keyword> on 23 July, 2022. Fortunately, case numbers soon plummeted due to a combination of behavioural changes and vaccination in at-risk groups. Modern vaccines and antiviral drugs with activity against mpox were made available in many affected high-income countries. These had been developed and stockpiled in the US and Europe, mostly in preparation for a potential bioweapon attack using a poxvirus. The global outbreak in 2022 was caused by clade II of MPXV, which is endemic in west Africa and not as virulent as clade I MPXV, which so far has only been seen in the Congo Basin. That first mpox public health emergency of international concern was declared over in May 2023. Clade II MPXV infections are still occurring globally, but the worst seems over - for now. Complacency would be misguided, as illustrated by the current mpox outbreak that is gathering steam. <h2>Upsurge in Africa</h2>The African region is experiencing an upsurge in mpox cases, which started in 2023. As the continent which includes the areas where mpox has been endemic for a long time, Africa now presents a complex mosaic. The current clade I MPXV (formerly called Congo Basin strain) is more virulent than the clade II (west African) strain, resulting in a higher case fatality rate. The ongoing outbreak has its epicentre in South Kivu province, eastern DRC, and has the potential to fuel a large pandemic. It has a distinct epidemiological pattern with sustained chains of human-to-human transmission, often via the sexual route. It may have increased transmissibility (we don't know yet). The virus which causes it is the newly defined clade Ib lineage. It displays mutations that are the hallmark of human-to-human spread that is estimated to have been happening since September 2023. Case numbers are rising rapidly, even though many suspected cases are likely not tested and thus not counted as confirmed. Complicating matters, a commonly used test was found to miss infections with this lineage of the virus. It affects mostly adults. The case fatality rate is higher than it was in the 2022 global outbreak. Already, this outbreak has resulted in mpox cases occurring in several neighbouring countries, including some (like Kenya), with no previous record of mpox. The challenge is enormous. The eastern DRC is an area beset by multiple problems. This includes natural disasters, violence and infectious diseases including measles, cholera and poliomyelitis for the DRC. In recent years the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever took place in the wider area and, despite the availability of vaccines and treatments, posed considerable challenges. <h2>What needs to happen</h2>Equitable access to diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral treatments requires political commitment and financial investments. Scientific investigations are needed to learn more about exposure settings, transmission routes and clinical presentations. It's important to find the best ways to make these interventions. There is no doubt that a disease in one corner of the world can suddenly become a global heath threat. It's time the global health system woke up to this reality.

Mpox outbreak in Africa was neglected - it could now turn into the next global pandemic

Having been declared a global health emergency by <keyword id="6366244" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="who" source="Orion">WHO</keyword> just a few weeks ago, the dreaded <keyword id="20965747" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mpox" source="keywords">Mpox</keyword> (formerly <keyword id="7616951" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monkeypox" source="Orion">monkeypox</keyword>) has slowly been closing in on India. And now, days after our neighbour <keyword id="19899252" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pakistan" source="keywords">Pakistan</keyword> confirmed its second Mpox case this month, India has also reported its first one this season. While feeling uncertain is understandable, the situation is far from dire just yet. On Monday, September 9, 2024, the <keyword id="19896140" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-ministry" source="keywords">Health Ministry</keyword> confirmed that a previously suspected case of Mpox was a travel-related infection. The patient, a young male, recently returned from a country experiencing ongoing Mpox transmission. Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the West African clade 2 of the Mpox virus, which is distinct from the more dangerous clade 1 currently under a public health emergency. In its statement, the Ministry emphasised that this case is isolated and in line with the 30 previous Mpox cases reported in India since July 2022. The Ministry clarified that this case does not contribute to the WHO-declared public health emergency associated with clade 1 of Mpox, which has spread primarily in parts of <keyword id="19924003" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="africa" source="keywords">Africa</keyword>. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112542249" title="WHO has declared mpox a global health emergency. What happens next?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2>Patient condition and response measures </h2>The infected individual is isolated at a designated tertiary care isolation facility. The Ministry reports that the patient is clinically stable, with no systemic illness or pre-existing conditions. Public health authorities have initiated contact tracing and monitoring to ensure the infection remains contained, stating that no widespread public health risk exists at this time. <h2>Mode of transmission and symptoms </h2>The global Mpox outbreak has primarily affected young males, with a median age of 34. The main mode of transmission has been sexual contact, followed by non-sexual person-to-person contact. The most commonly reported symptom is a rash, which can manifest either systemically or in the genital region, followed by fever. WHO data shared by the Ministry indicates that approximately 51.9% of Mpox cases involve individuals living with HIV. This underscores the need for targeted healthcare and awareness, especially in high-risk populations. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112561654" title="WHO calls for increased surveillance, sharing of data, vaccines to combat monkeypox outbreak" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2>Increased vigilance and preparedness </h2>Following the confirmation of this case, the Health Ministry has issued directives to all states and union territories, urging healthcare workers, particularly those in skin/STD clinics and NACO (<keyword id="20887701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-aids-control-organisation" source="keywords">National AIDS Control Organisation</keyword>) clinics, to stay alert to the signs and symptoms of Mpox. These clinics must be prepared for immediate isolation, clinical management, and treatment of complications, adhering to established protocols. The Ministry has also advised enhanced screening and testing of suspected Mpox cases, especially at airports and other points of entry, to prevent further transmission. <h2>Awareness and risk communication </h2>The Ministry has issued guidelines to state AIDS control societies, urging them to be vigilant in identifying suspect cases, especially among vulnerable populations such as female sex workers (FSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM). Communities must be made aware of the disease’s transmission and symptoms, as well as the importance of timely reporting. Clear risk communication, particularly to healthcare workers and intervention sites such as skin and paediatric clinics, is crucial to prevent the spread of the virus. While the Ministry advocates for robust preventive measures, it also stresses the importance of avoiding undue panic among the general public. For now, the Ministry’s actions aim to ensure that India remains well-prepared to handle isolated Mpox cases, while working to prevent any major outbreak in the country. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112550492" title="Danish monkeypox-vaccine maker surges 17% after global health emergency declared" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Mpox has finally infiltrated India, but how worried should we be about the viral disease?

<keyword id="19894886" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="china" source="keywords">China</keyword>'s top drug regulator has cleared a mpox vaccine developed by local drug firm Sinopharm for clinical trials which could be the country's first experimental dose to battle the deadly disease. The domestic vaccine candidate, created by the Shanghai Institute of Biological Products and administered by Sinopharm, is expected to play an important role in preventing and controlling mpox infections, the company said in a statement released on Monday afternoon. There is currently no approved mpox vaccine in China. Globally, a few vaccines have been approved in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Russia. In China, a vaccine candidate typically goes through three phases of clinical trials before gaining market approval. The process can take years, even decades. However, the National Medical Products Administration, China's top drug regulator, has launched a number of accelerated or streamlined channels to facilitate applications of novel drugs and vaccines or those in urgent need, state-run China Daily reported on Tuesday. According to the company, the new vaccine is a replication-deficient vaccine based on a strain called MVA. The description is the same as <keyword id="22925756" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jynneos" source="keywords">Jynneos</keyword>, the world's first mpox vaccine approved by the <keyword id="20256595" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-and-drug-administration" source="keywords">Food and Drug Administration</keyword> in the United States in 2019. The <keyword id="19902256" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-health-organisation" source="keywords">World Health Organisation</keyword> said on August 14 that the mpox outbreak in <keyword id="19924003" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="africa" source="keywords">Africa</keyword> constitutes a public health emergency of international concern - its highest form of alert. Previously, in July 2022, the WHO declared a global emergency but then lifted it in May last year because of a sustained decline in international cases. So far, more than 120 countries and regions across the world have reported more than 100,000 confirmed infections and 226 related deaths. China reported its first imported case in September 2022 and the first domestic case in June last year. By the end of July, the nation had reported 2,567 confirmed cases, according to the China Daily report. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/ather-energy-looks-to-raise-3100-crore-files-ipo-papers-with-sebi/articleshow/113214971.cms">Ather Energy looks to raise ₹3,100 crore, files IPO papers with SEBI</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/iphone-16-pro-iphone-16-pro-max-india-price-specifications/articleshow/113204340.cms">iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with bigger displays, A18 Pro chipset launched starting at ₹1,19,900</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/apple-iphone-16-iphone-16-plus-price-specs/articleshow/113203568.cms">iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus with A18 chipset launched starting at ₹79,900</a>

China's drug regulator clears mpox vaccine; to undergo clinical trial

Days ago, a 26-year-old, infected by the clade-2 variant of <keyword id="20134986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monkeypox" source="keywords">Monkeypox</keyword>, became India's first confirmed case of the viral infection that is currently wreaking major havoc in African nations. A month after the WHO (World Health Organization) declared Monkeypox clade-1 a global public health emergency, neighbor <keyword id="19899252" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pakistan" source="keywords">Pakistan</keyword> already has 5 confirmed cases. Three weeks ago, <keyword id="19913659" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="thailand" source="keywords">Thailand</keyword> had also confirmed the first case of Monkeypox's newer variant (clade 1b) in <keyword id="19915288" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asia" source="keywords">Asia</keyword>, which is considered far more deadly than its previous counterpart. Common symptoms of this viral infection include rashes on face, hands, feet and mouth. <keyword id="20965747" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="mpox" source="keywords">Mpox</keyword> is generally characterised by pus-filled blisters, which generally last about 2-4 weeks. Other symptoms of this infection also include fever, headache, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes. While it is not deadly, Mpox is highly infectious and spreads on close contact. Since July 2022, India has reported 30 cases of Monkeypox. But with the outbreak of infection now looming larger than ever, here's a concise guide on navigating through your insurance, in case you or your loved ones are afflicted by Monkeypox. Note that at present, there are no separate insurance add-ons or riders for Mpox, unlike Covid-19. But since it is a viral infection, coverage for Mpox hospitalization, diagnostic tests and treatment is already present in your standard health insurance policy. But remember that hospitalization, and even recovery expenses for infectious diseases such as Mpox can be enormous, especially in private hospitals and urban centers. That is why, not only should you have an adequate insurance cover, but you should also make sure you are comprehensively covered when it comes pre and post hospitalization expenses, ICU charges, room rent etc. Since Mpox demands complete isolation of the patient, it is important to ensure that there are no limits on the room you opt for, while being hospitalised. Mahesh Yelapure, Head of Health Underwriting &amp; Health Claims, Go Digit General Insurance also cautions that you should confirm with your respective insurers, if there are any recent changes in terms, conditions of insurance policies, when it comes to Mpox treatment. Additionally, you should also be aware of any deductibles, sub-limits, or co-payment options of your policy. Deductibles is minimum amount you will have to pay before your insurer starts footing the bill for a particular disease or illness, while sub-limits refer to the maximum amount your policy will offer as coverage for a particular condition. This varies, depending on the policy and insurer, so always undertake thorough research to get yourself the best deal. <h2>Insure your travels</h2>If you are planning to travel abroad, be sure to buy a travel insurance policy ahead of your trip. Your travel insurance policy will typically includes medical coverage, which can help cover the costs of hospitalization for conditions like Mpox and other diseases. Keep the policy document handy, and also add a nominee, in case any extraordinary situation arises. If you require medical treatment for Mpox and require stay in a hospital for more than 24 hours, your policy may provide financial assistance, especially in a foreign country, where the cost of medical treatment might be super high. However, Yelapure also advises to look out for government-issued travel advisories before planning any travel. "If the government issues a travel advisory prohibiting citizens to travel to certain countries where the number of confirmed cases of Mpox is high, and one anyway decides to travel despite the issued advisory, and one contracts the disease, the claim may get rejected by the insurer", he says. As of last month, cases of Mpox Clade 1b virus have been skyrocketing in 13 countries, which include <keyword id="67854" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congo" source="Orion">Congo</keyword>, Burundi, Kenya, South Africa, Liberia, South Africa, Cameroon, <keyword id="20027571" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="uganda" source="keywords">Uganda</keyword>, <keyword id="20218680" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rwanda" source="keywords">Rwanda</keyword> and Nigeria. In Asia, apart from Pakistan and Thailand, Mpox cases have also been reported in Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia.

Mpox outbreak: Understand what your insurance covers for Mpox treatment

New Delhi: The central government has directed airport, ports and border authorities to remain vigilant in response to the global rise in <keyword id="20965747" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mpox" source="keywords">Mpox</keyword> cases, according to sources. Official sources told ANI, "We have alerted airports, ports and borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan. Three central hospitals will have facilities for isolation like Safdarjung hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and Lady Hardinge." As per sources, the Union Health Ministry held meetings with experts on the new virus scare which "is different" from the previous Monkey pox virus. "We had a meeting with states and the <keyword id="20105829" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-centre-for-disease-control" source="keywords">National Centre for Disease Control</keyword> (NCDC) last week. Point of entries are on alert. It's a self limiting virus. There is no correlation of Mpox with COVID. Nodal officers are already in Hospitals. Testing facilities are available at 32 ICMR centers. The symptoms of MPox are like of chickenpox," sources said. "Chances of mortality is high but their is Low chance to affect <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword>. This disease occurs with rashes," they added. Earlier, PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, led a review meeting to assess the nation's preparedness for Mpox. Enhanced surveillance measures are now in place to ensure prompt detection and response. The high-level meeting was briefed that, as of now, there is no reported case of Mpox in the country. As per the present assessment, the risk of a large outbreak with sustained transmission is low. The <keyword id="19896311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Health-Organization" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="World Health Organization" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="World Health Organization">World Health Organization</keyword> (<keyword id="19895006" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO" source="keywords">WHO</keyword>) has classified Mpox as a public health emergency of international concern due to its prevalence in various parts of Africa. However, no travel advisories have been issued by the WHO at this time.

India heightens alert as Mpox cases rise globally

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Danish monkeypox-vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic surged as much as 17% on Thursday.</li><li>The company's two-day gain extended to 31% at highs after the WHO declared mpox a public health emergency.</li></ul>Danish monkeypox-vaccine maker <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/bvnkf">Bavarian Nordic</a> surged as much as 17% on Thursday amid rising alarm over the virus.The company extended its two-day gain to 31% at intraday highs after the World Health Organization declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern, citing the rising risk that its outbreak in Africa could spread globally.<a target="_blank" href="https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/who-declares-monkeypox-a-global-emergency/jvln09g">Reports emphasize</a> the need for vaccinations to combat this fast-spreading disease, though supply appears to be constrained.In an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-14/bavarian-nordic-says-it-can-meet-mpox-shot-demand-awaits-orders">interview with Bloomberg</a>, Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin noted that the company will be able to meet the challenge among African nations, and pledged to provide 10 million mpox doses to the region by the end of 2025."We have inventory and we have the capabilities. What we're missing are the orders," he said Wednesday, noting that 300,000 doses are ready for shipping.During <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-the-us-handled-its-first-ever-monkeypox-outbreak-2022-5">2022's outbreak</a>, Bavarian Nordic was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-17/monkeypox-vaccine-maker-no-longer-certain-it-can-meet-demand">the only company</a> approved to create a mpox vaccine. However, overwhelming demand forced it to consider outsourcing production.Momentum around the latest emergency announcement has also swept up other firms. In Japan, medical tools supplier Precision System Science rocketed as high as 39% on Wednesday.Chinese firms focused on virus detection products also gained, with Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech rising as much as 8.4%. Others, such as Daan Gene and Assure Tech Hangzhou, beat the benchmark CSI 300 index.Even before the WHO's declaration, alarm bells have been ringing over the mpox strain that first appeared in September. According to Bloomberg, its broken out in at least six African nations, infecting 15,000.In June, a University of Rwanda lecturer <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-monkeypox-mpox-virus-global-outbreak-risk-2024-7">called it</a> "undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the known strains of mpox."

Danish monkeypox-vaccine maker surges 17% after global health emergency declared

Geneva: A day after <keyword id="19903879" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sweden" source="keywords">Sweden</keyword> confirmed the first case of a more contagious monkeypox variant outside Africa, the World Health Organisation (<keyword id="19895006" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="WHO" source="keywords">WHO</keyword>) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged affected countries to work together to tackle the <keyword id="22805831" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monkeypox-outbreak" source="keywords">monkeypox outbreak</keyword> and called on all nations to address the current outbreak. The WHO Director-General emphasized the need for enhanced <keyword id="19942081" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="surveillance" source="keywords">surveillance</keyword>, data sharing, and collaboration to combat the transmission of the virus. "Identification of the first #mpox clade 1b infection in Sweden underscores the need for affected countries to tackle the virus together," the WHO director-general said on X We encourage all countries to enhance surveillance, share data, and work to better understand the transmission; share tools like vaccines; and apply lessons learned from prior public health emergencies of international concern in addressing the current outbreak," he added. Recently, Sweden confirmed the first case of mpox Clade I, a viral infection that spreads through close contact and is a more dangerous variant of the mpox disease, Al Jazeera reported. The Swedish government announced this on Thursday, marking the first case of the variant outside of Africa. "We have now also during the afternoon had confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more grave type of mpox, the one called Clade I," Health and Social Affairs Minister, Jakob Forssmed told a news conference on Thursday. The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to other countries. Following this, Pakistan also confirmed its first monkeypox case of the year after a man who recently returned from Saudi Arabia tested positive for the virus, ARY News reported citing the Ministry of Health. The 34-year-old male resident of Mardan arrived in Pakistan on August 3 and developed symptoms shortly after arriving in Peshawar and reached out to the hospital for testing. The diagnosis was confirmed by Khyber Medical University in Peshawar, as per ARY News. His positive diagnosis was confirmed on August 13, marking the first reported case of monkeypox in Pakistan for 2024.

WHO calls for increased surveillance, sharing of data, vaccines to combat monkeypox outbreak

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new strain of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/er-doctor-monkeypox-patients-are-getting-misdiagnosed-with-other-conditions-2022-8">monkeypox virus</a> is "the most dangerous" yet and could be a global threat, experts say.</li><li>The new clade Ib virus emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and spread to Rwanda's border.</li></ul>A deadly and fast-spreading new strain of mpox, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monkeypox-pictures-patient-shares-images-describes-intense-pain-2022-8">the disease caused by the monkeypox virus</a>, has global health officials ringing alarm bells.The new virus is "undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the known strains of mpox," John Claude Udahemuka, a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, said in a press briefing on June 25. He said the virus has caused miscarriages and blindness.An earlier, milder form of mpox — called clade IIb — circulated worldwide in 2022, ultimately <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-the-us-handled-its-first-ever-monkeypox-outbreak-2022-5">infecting more than 32,000 people in the US</a> and killing 58 of them. It prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency, which ended last year.The new virus is called clade Ib, since it's a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-hiv-had-coronavirus-216-days-virus-mutated-2021-6">mutation</a> of an even earlier form of mpox. It first appeared in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September and has spread to towns along the Rwanda border, near Burundi and Uganda.The new clade Ib virus could cause a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bird-flu-avian-influenza-outbreak-us-h5n1-wiping-out-everything-2023-4">global outbreak</a>, experts fear, though they stopped short of warning of a pandemic."The pandemic question is difficult," Trudie Lang, director of the Global Health Network at Oxford University, said in the briefing."I think we need to be really vigilant now and move to try and contain this as quickly as possible in this region," she added. "There's definitely the opportunity for this to get on an airplane."<h2 id="ef566fbb-abea-4b10-aabf-9d64faaf238f">The new mpox strain spreads easily </h2>Mpox spreads through close contact, especially skin-to-skin contact. It can cause flu-like symptoms and a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monkeypox-rash-pictures-when-to-get-checked-2022-5">painful or itchy rash</a> that develops into puss-filled blisters, lesions, and eventually scabs.<div type="image" title="Monkeypox palm of hands" height="459" width="700" msid="111468793" hostid="261" sizebytes="24580"></div><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monkeypox-man-hospitalized-couldnt-swallow-spit-feared-death-symptoms-2022-7">Previous strains of the virus</a> have had limited transmission abilities. The clade I virus that's long circulated in the DRC has been mostly associated with spread through families and within households, Land said. The clade IIb virus that went global was mostly sexually transmitted and mostly affected men who have sex with men.The new clade Ib strain seems to do it all.It began spreading through sexual transmission, via the local sex work industry, according to the researchers. However, they said the new virus has also spread within households, between mothers and their children, and there have even been cases of person-to-person spread outside households and without sexual contact.That's "incredibly worrying," Lang said. That's because it has more opportunities to spread than previous strains did.The clade I form of the virus, from which the new strain has emerged, is also more deadly than clade II. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/about/index.html">WHO</a>, some outbreaks have killed up to 10% of sick people.<h2 id="b8b424dd-af4a-4193-a5ac-002f109faf5a">Researchers only see 'the tip of the iceberg'</h2>It's not yet clear just how deadly the new clade Ib virus is, because researchers aren't sure how many cases there are.Leandre Murhula Masirika, a research coordinator in the local DRC health department, said in the briefing that they had identified more than 600 cases so far."These are the severe cases that make it to hospital, so this will be the tip of the iceberg," Lang said.The WHO's technical lead for mpox, Rosamund Lewis, also raised the alarm last week, saying "There is a critical need to address the recent surge in mpox cases in Africa," according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-scientists-warn-mpox-strain-congo-2024-06-25/">Reuters</a>.The researchers said they need to better understand the virus to identify the right safety measures and vaccines to contain its spread."We need to first carry out studies of serology and immunology in order to see what kind of vaccination we can propose," Murhula Masirika said.He added that, in the meantime, he wants to give the smallpox vaccine to local sex workers and healthcare workers in hopes that it will confer some immunity to mpox.

Experts are racing to contain 'the most dangerous' monkeypox virus yet before it causes a global outbreak

<keyword id="9690644" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="wastewater-surveillance" source="Orion">Wastewater surveillance</keyword>, which gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, is an essential tool in comprehensive public health and lifestyle monitoring, and its need and benefits exceed that of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, said experts on Sunday. During the last three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater surveillance proved to be the most cost-effective tool as it helped provide preliminary insight on the infection status in resource-constrained systems, particularly in a highly populated country like India. The surveillance tested a pooled sample of a large portion of the city population. "People in the community infected with COVID would shed the virus in their stools and scientists measured and tested wastewater for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 to find the extent of the virus spread in the community - whether it is increasing, staying the same or which variant is circulating, etc," Shirish Harshe, Senior Technical Specialist in public health organisation Precision Health A. Swasti, told IANS. "The sewage surveillance is an indicative surveillance tool and provides a signal that can be detected and tracked to make quick and pre-emptive decisions in preventing and containing infectious disease incidences, thereby building the city's resilience in tackling ever-growing issues of emerging infectious diseases," he said, adding "the need for wastewater surveillance exceeds SARS-CoV-2". In India, a city-wide wastewater surveillance system, also a first in Asia, was established in Bengaluru in May 2021 by Precision Health Platform assisted by several local and government bodies. Precision extended the surveillance beyond COVID-19 to explore pathogens like Influenza A, B and H1N1, even Mpox, pharmaceutical drugs, and antimicrobial resistance genes. The platform aims to expand surveillance efforts in 25 cities across India and South East Asia. Conventional detection methods focus on individuals, rendering testing cumbersome, slow, expensive, and mostly reactive. The tools rely on symptoms, clinical tests, surveys and questionnaires. Testing each and every citizen for individual testing is a highly costly endeavour, both in terms of funds and time. Wastewater surveillance, on the other hand, is highly cost effective as it involves the analysis of population data collectively through a few wastewater samples. Thus, it is quick and much less cumbersome than conventional techniques. It can also predict disease outbreaks faster than the existing health assessment tools and identify hot infection spots to respond better to future outbreaks. Wastewater Based Epidemiology (<keyword id="13874701" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wbe" source="Orion">WBE</keyword>) dashboards can function as tools to alert the public regarding the spread of diseases. "WBE is an essential tool in comprehensive public health and lifestyle monitoring. In the long term, WBE will be employed to fill the gaps in clinical testing of the health of a population. The availability of a cost-effective system for disease surveillance and health monitoring will benefit the health sector," Prof. T. Pradeep, Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, told IANS. "Given the densely populated cities in India, it is essential to establish surveillance and early warning systems to control disease spread. WBE offers a surveillance tool that can predict the spread of diseases much before the clinical data," he added. However, owing to less clarity among public health officials, the government and municipal corporations, the possibilities for health monitoring through the WBE are much less explored yet. "There is a lack of national and state policies on WBE, and lack of capacities for regular testing, sense-making platforms, and communication," Harshe said. "In addition to this, the infrastructure of drainage systems in different cities is not uniform," he noted. Citing environmental scientist Sudipti Arora's article in Nature journal, he stated that unlike western countries, the sewerage system in India is fragmented — only about 33 per cent is connected, and of the rest, only 38 per cent use septic tanks. "The rest of the population use non-sewered drains, which means their waste is disposed through open stormwater drains which doesn't help in detecting hotspots," Harshe told IANS. Yet the applications of WBE in comprehensive public health monitoring are versatile. "These include the surveillance of non-infectious diseases through the evaluation of biomarkers released in wastewater through the consumption of pharmaceuticals. The WBE surveillance of antidepressants and psychoactive medicines can be correlated to the overall mental health of the population monitored. The effect of public health policies being implemented will be evaluated at the population level through WBE," Prof. Pradeep said. The experts recommended a more sustainable model of environmental surveillance which will help governments by providing quick and evidence based decisions on preventing and preparing for the future pandemic. <h2>Recommended stories:</h2> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="100104047" title="Plastic recycling plants could end up dumping lakhs of kilograms of microplastics in water bodies, study finds" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"><payload><![CDATA[seealso]]></payload></div>

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