Monkeypox cases on the rise: How worried should you be – 10 points

1. Although usually mild, ampox can be life-threatening. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, are at higher risk of complications. The WHO recently declared the disease outbreak a public health emergency after a new strain of the ampox virus, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to other neighbouring countries.
2. Ampox is spread through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but there is no evidence that it spreads easily through the air. The new infection has caused global concern because it appears to spread more easily between people.
3. Two years ago, the WHO declared ampox an emergency when one form of the disease, ‘clade IIb’, began spreading around the world, mainly among men who have sex with men. Behavior changes and safer sex practices, as well as vaccines, helped at-risk people protect themselves in many countries, and that outbreak was brought under control.
4. But ampox has been a public health problem in parts of Africa for decades. The first human case was in Congo in 1970, and outbreaks have continued since then. The current outbreak, which is Congo’s worst to date, has seen 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths since January 2023, most of them children.
5. Two types of ampox are now spreading in Congo – the endemic form of the virus, ‘Clade I’, and a new subclade called ‘Clade Ib’, with the term ‘clade’ referring to a form of the virus. The new subclade has now spread from eastern Congo to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
6. Sweden on Thursday reported the first case of the new variant ‘Clade Ib’ outside Africa. A WHO spokesperson said the case reiterated the need for partnerships, and the agency continues to advise against travel restrictions to prevent the spread of ampox. Pakistan also confirmed a case of the ampox virus on Friday in a patient who had returned from the Gulf country, though it was unclear whether it was of the new variant or the clade, which has been spreading globally since 2022.
7. But in 2022, the WHO appeal for $34 million to fight ampox received no support from donors, and there was huge disparity in who had access to vaccine doses. African countries did not have access to the two shots used in the global outbreak, made by Bavarian Nordic and KM Biologics.
8. Two years later, that remains the case, though efforts are being made to change that, with the WHO saying on Wednesday as it appealed to countries with stockpiles to donate doses. The Africa CDC said it had plans to secure doses but did not elaborate, but stocks are currently limited.
9. Mortality rates vary, and depend heavily on the healthcare available to the sickest patients. In this outbreak in Congo, both ‘Clade I’ and ‘Clade Ib’ have had rates of about 4 percent. ‘Clade II’, which spread globally, was much less deadly.
10. However, Mpox is not COVID-19. There are tools that have proven effective in stopping the spread and helping those at risk, and it does not spread easily. The challenge now, which the emergency declarations aim to highlight, is to ensure those tools reach those who need them most in Congo and neighboring countries.

With inputs from Reuters