MONKEYPOX VIRUS

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Context

• WHO considers declaring monkeypox a global health emergency.

 

Monkey Pox Virus

About

• Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africaand is occasionally exported to other regions.
• The first case of monkeypox in humans was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congoduring a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.
• Scientists have so far discovered two distinct genetic groups of monkeypox virus—Central African and West African.

 

Cause

• It is caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.
• Monkeypox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox. But Smallpox had a higher fatality rate than monkeypox.
• Smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980.

 

Symptoms

• Monkeypox is characterised by flu-like symptoms and swelling of the lymph nodes, which gradually progresses to a widespread rash all over the face and body.

 

Transmission

• Monkeypox virus is mostly transmitted to people from wild animals such as rodents and primates, but human-to-human transmission also occurs.
• It spreads from one person to another via respiratory droplets.

 

Treatment

• There is currently no specific treatment recommended for monkeypox.
• Vaccination against smallpox was about 85% effective in preventing monkeypox.
• Thus, prior childhood smallpox vaccination may result in a milder disease course.

Implications of it being declared a Global Emergency

• Declaring monkey-pox to be a global emergency would mean the UN health agency considers the outbreak to be an “extraordinary event” and that the disease is at risk of spreading across even more borders.
• It would also give monkey-pox the same distinction as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

 

Note: Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa, where one version of the disease kills up to 10% of people. In the epidemic beyond Africa so far, no deaths have been reported.

 

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/who-declare-monkeypox-global-health-emergency-7986823/