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Tag: WHO

  • Sweden records its first case of deadly monkeypox strain

    Sweden records its first case of deadly monkeypox strain

    Sweden records its first case of deadly monkeypox strain

    Monkeypox

    The Swedish Public Health Agency on Thursday, confirmed a case of deadly Monkeypox from one of their citizens in Stockholm.

    The infected individual was diagnosed with the Clade 1b subclade of the virus which marks the first time this strain has been identified outside Africa.

    This strain has been responsible for the significant surge in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since September 2023.

    “A person who sought care in Stockholm has been diagnosed with mpox caused by the clade I variant. It is the first case caused by clade I to be diagnosed outside the African continent,” the agency stated.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.

    The outbreak in the DRC has been devastating, with 548 deaths reported since the start of the year. On Wednesday, August 14, the WHO declared the situation in the DRC and neighbouring countries a public health emergency of international concern.

    Monkeypox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC. The virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans and can also spread through close physical contact between people. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and large boil-like skin lesions.

  • WHO declares Monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency

    WHO declares Monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency

    WHO declares Monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency

    Monkeypox

    The World Health Organization during a virtual meeting on Wednesday declared the ongoing Monkeypox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency.

    WHO convened the emergency committee amid concerns that a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, is spreading across Africa.

    The disease which was initially reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to previously unaffected countries in Africa.

    WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”

    “The emergency committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” he added.

    Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security on Tuesday, the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.

    Africa CDC reported 17,000 mpox cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, which classifies the outbreak as a “very high-risk event.”

    The highest number of cases — more than 14,000 — is in the DRC, which reported 96% of confirmed cases this month.

    Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals.

    It is a communicable disease that can be gotten through touching, kissing, sex, as well as through contaminated materials. The symptoms include a fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.

    Mpox is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades and is a genetic and clinically distinct group. Clade II was responsible for the 2022 outbreak, but clade Ib causes more severe disease.