New data suggests that the strain of the Monkeypox virus is able to spread through sex
CDC and DRC Support in the Response to the CPox Epidemics: “When little children get dehydrated, you can’t get enough fluids”
The CDC has worked with the DRC for 15 years but has increased their efforts in response to the current mpox outbreak, as has the World Health Organization. They helped open labs in some of the most isolated areas of the country to expand testing capacity. The CDC has provided funds for local epidemiological teams to better understand mpox cases.
“Small children [with mpox] can become dehydrated very quickly. When you have enlarged lymph nodes in the neck and sores in the mouth, children can’t eat or drink. So without access to rehydration methods, nasogastric tubes, intravenous [fluids] if needed – without basic medical care that you would take for granted anywhere else – the children have a very high risk of severe disease and death, which we’re seeing in the data,” explains Lewis.
Putting a Health Emergency in the Distrinsic Republic of Congo: The Case for a Globally Unstable mpox Outbreak
I would say “declare!” Because, by declaring, you have access to the drugs, you have access to the vaccines. We don’t need to go through all of the approval processes. And that will open the door for international support to mobilize resources,” he says.
Nonetheless, Ndembi says his instinct is that the scientific evidence merits a health emergency, particularly because the DRC borders nine countries and the virus could spread through travelers as it did in 2022.
An official declaration is not always issued before a number of considerations are taken into account. Many countries vividly – and bitterly – remember how travelers from numerous African countries were banned after Botswana and South Africa shared news about the discovery of Omicron, which was then a new strain of COVID. The bans cost the countries money and critics criticized them since they did not get the same response in Europe. He says that it’s very sensitive.
Although mpox infections have waned globally since 2022, they have been trending upwards in the DRC: last year, the country reported more than 14,600 suspected infections and more than 650 deaths. In September, a new cluster of suspected clade I infections arose in the DRC’s South Kivu province. Many STDs were in sex workers, suggesting that the virus has adapted to transmit through sexual contact.
The U.S., Europe and Japan have all had mps outbreak that has been successfully mitigated by vaccines. So far, they have not been approved for use in most African nations.
Other countries are trying to balance their desire for swift action against theDRC’s right to address its own health plans and priorities. The nation has a number of health challenges.
We’ve been trying to strengthen things by building support and groundwork. “I hope that we’re at a pivot point now,” says Dr. McQuiston of the CDC. We expect to learn a lot over the next three weeks.
Datasuggests that a strain of monkeypox has gained the ability to spread through sexual contact. In 2022, there may be a repeat of the worldwide mpox outbreak.
A group of infections caused by the clade I strain that seems to spread through sexual contact are in a conflict-torn region of the Democratic Republic of the Congolese. A preprint1 posted on 15 April reports that 241 suspected and 108 confirmed infections are connected to this outbreak — and testing capacity is limited, so there are probably many more cases. Sex workers were most likely to be affected by the infections.
Conflict, displacement, food insufficiency and challenges in providing adequate humanitarian assistance make matters more fraught, as the WHO warned last year.
The WHO says the US and Japan have committed to provide vaccine for the 50,000 people who will be immunised by the vaccine in the conflict-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. A vaccine drive in the country would require hundreds of thousands, if not millions of doses to be given to everyone at high risk of contracting the disease.
It’s not clear how much protection these vaccines will provide against clade I mpox, but Andrea McCollum, a poxvirus epidemiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, says that data from animal studies are promising. Researchers are also conducting a trial in the DRC of tecovirimat, an antiviral that is thought to be effective against the monkeypox virus. Results are expected in the next year, McCollum says.
The WHO and CDC have helped procure equipment that will allow for more rapid diagnoses of the disease, especially in rural areas. She adds that the rapid mobilization of African health officials gives her hope that the outbreak can be controlled before the clade Ib strain starts spreading elsewhere.
The WHO on Sunday said that the US and Japan have pledged to provide a vaccine for 50,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who will be immunised against clade I mpox. This comes after several cases were reported in South Kivu province, which is a conflict-torn part of the DRC. So far, the virus has killed more than 650 people.