The World Health Organization has declared the ongoing outbreaks of mpox in Congo and elsewhere in Africa to be a , requiring urgent action to curb the virus含羞草研究社� transmission.
has since announced it had found the first case of a previously only seen in Africa in a traveler, while other European health authorities warned more imported cases were likely.
Here含羞草研究社檚 a look at mpox and how likely it is to spread further:
Is mpox going to trigger another pandemic?
That seems highly unlikely. Pandemics, including the most recent ones of swine flu and COVID-19, are typically sparked by airborne viruses that spread quickly, including by people who may not be showing symptoms.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is spread primarily through close skin-to-skin contact with infected people or their soiled clothes or bedsheets. It often causes visible skin lesions that could make people less likely to be in close contact with others.
To stay safe, experts advise avoiding close physical contact with someone who has lesions resembling mpox, not sharing their utensils, clothing or bedsheets and maintaining good hygiene like regular hand-washing.
On Friday, Europe含羞草研究社檚 Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said that more imported cases of mpox from Africa were 含羞草研究社渉ighly likely,含羞草研究社� but the chances of local outbreaks in Europe were very low.
Scientists say the risk to the general population in countries without ongoing mpox outbreaks is low.
How different is mpox from COVID-19?
Mpox spreads very slowly unlike the coronavirus. Shortly after the coronavirus was identified in China, the number of cases jumped exponentially from several hundred to several thousand; in a single week in January, the case count increased more than tenfold.
By March 2020, when WHO described COVID-19 as a pandemic, there were more than 126,000 infections and 4,600 deaths 含羞草研究社� about three months after the coronavirus was first identified.
In contrast, it含羞草研究社檚 taken since 2022 for mpox cases to hit nearly 100,000 infections globally, with about 200 deaths, according to WHO.
There are vaccines and treatments available for mpox unlike in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
含羞草研究社淲e have what we need to stop mpox,含羞草研究社� said Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of Duke University含羞草研究社檚 Global Health Institute. 含羞草研究社淭his is not the same situation we faced during COVID when there was no vaccine and no antivirals.含羞草研究社�
How quickly will these mpox outbreaks be stopped?
It含羞草研究社檚 unclear. The 2022 mpox outbreak in more than 70 countries was slowed within months, thanks largely to vaccination programs and drugs being made available to at-risk populations in rich countries.
At the moment, the majority of mpox cases are in Africa 含羞草研究社� and 96% of those cases and deaths are in Congo, one of the world含羞草研究社檚 poorest countries whose health system has mostly collapsed from the strain of malnutrition, cholera and measles. Although Congolese officials requested 4 million vaccines from donors, it has yet to receive any.
Despite WHO declaring mpox a global emergency in 2022, Africa got barely any vaccines or treatments.
Beyrer of Duke University said it was in the world含羞草研究社檚 interest to invest now in squashing the outbreaks in Africa.
含羞草研究社淲e are actually in a good place to get control of this pandemic, but we have to make the decision to prioritize Africa,含羞草研究社� he said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute含羞草研究社檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Maria Cheng, The Associated Press
