London, Europe Brief News – The acting director of Africa’s top public health agency called not to hoard vaccines during the current monkeypox outbreak.
Monkeypox, a mild viral infection, is endemic in 11 African countries including Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.
What we know from this virus and these modes of transmission, this outbreak can still be contained; it is the objective of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Member States to contain this outbreak and to stop it,” said Dr Rosamund Lewis, head of the smallpox team, which is part of the WHO Emergencies Programme.
“The risk to the general public therefore appears to be low, because we know that the main modes of transmission have been as described in the past.”
Latest data from WHO’s Member States to 22 May, indicates more than 250 confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox from 16 countries and several WHO regions.
Symptoms can be very similar to those experienced by smallpox patients, although they are less clinically severe, albeit visually dramatic, with raised pustules and fever in the most severe cases that can last from two to four weeks.
According to the UN health agency, this Monkeypox outbreak has been transmitted primarily by close skin-to-skin contact, although the virus can also be passed by breath droplets and contaminated bedding.
The incubation period of Monkeypox is usually from six to 13 days but can range from five to 21 days. “We don’t yet have the information as to whether this would be transmitted through body fluids,” Dr Lewis noted, before urging potentially at-risk groups to “be mindful” when in close contact with others.
In an effort to warn against stigmatising those who fall sick from the virus, the UN health agency insisted that although most cases of infection have been linked primarily to men who have sex with men, this is probably because they are more proactive in seeking healthcare advice than others.
The disease “can affect anyone and (it) is not associated with any particular group of people,” Dr Lewis told journalists in Geneva.
