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Title: WHO says monkeypox one of ‘formidable’ challenges facing world
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WHO says monkeypox one of ‘formidable’ challenges facing world
THE WORLD HEALTH Organisation (WHO) has said that the world is facing “formidable” challenges, including the outbreak of monkeypox, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking at the opening of the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva on Sunday, where the health agency was discussing the outbreak of monkeypox.
The WHO said that as of Saturday, there were 92 confirmed cases of the disease in countries where monkeypox is not endemic, including in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Canada and the United States.
“Of course, the [Covid-19] pandemic is not the only crisis in our world,” Ghebreyesus said in his opening remarks.
“As we speak, our colleagues around the world are responding to outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, monkeypox and hepatitis of unknown cause and complex humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen,” he said.
We face a formidable convergence of disease, drought, famine and war, fuelled by climate change, inequity and geopolitical rivalry.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic illness which, similar to other diseases such as Covid-19, is transmitted to humans from animals.
It can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions and droplets of a contaminated person, as well as shared items such as bedding and towels.
Scotland has recorded the first case of monkeypox in the country, Public Health Scotland (PHS) has confirmed today.
Dr Nick Phin, the medical and public health science director of the PHS has said that the person is being treated in line with nationally agreed protocols.
“Close contacts of the case are being identified and provided with health information and advice. This may include the offer of vaccination.”
He added: “The overall risk to the general public is low.
“Anyone with an unusual blister-like rash, or small number of blister-like sores on any part of their body, including their genital area, should avoid close contact with others and seek medical advice if they have any concerns.”
Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face. They usually clear up after two to four weeks.
There have been thousands of human infections in parts of Central and Western Africa in recent years but it is rare in Europe and North America.
‘Concern’
Most people recover within several weeks and monkeypox has only been fatal in rare cases.
US President Joe Biden has said that people should be on guard against the disease which has the potential for “consequential” impact, if it were to spread further.
US President Joe Biden has said the monkeypox outbreak is ‘a concern’.
Monkeypox is rarely identified outside of Africa, but 92 cases have now been confirmed across Europe, North America and Australia.
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— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 22, 2022
Biden, on his maiden trip to Asia as president, said in Seoul that health officials have not fully briefed him about “the level of exposure” in the United States.
“But it is something that everybody should be concerned about,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One to fly to Tokyo.
“It is a concern, in that, if it were to spread, it would be consequential,” he added.
“We’re working on it hard to figure out what we do, and what vaccine if any might be available for it.”
The first US case in the recent global spate was reported on 18 May in Massachusetts, which was joined on Sunday by Florida.
Health authorities said they were investigating the southern state’s first presumptive case of monkeypox in someone who had recently traveled abroad.
UKHSA
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance now recommends that people who have had “unprotected direct contact or high-risk environmental contact” should isolate for 21 days.
This includes no travel, providing details for contact tracing and avoiding direct contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and children under 12.
Those who are considered at high risk of having caught monkeypox may have had household contact, sexual contact, or have changed an infected person’s bedding without wearing appropriate PPE.
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UKHSA also advises that they are offered a smallpox vaccine.
The guidance comes after Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, warned that monkeypox is spreading through community transmission.
So far the agency has confirmed 20 cases in the UK.
Hopkins said updated figures for the weekend will be given today as she warned of more cases “on a daily basis”.
With reporting from © AFP 2022 and the Press Association.
‘News of the Day’ content, as reported by public domain newswires.
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