Mpox virus ‘doesn’t spread the same way’ as COVID-19: WHO
Geneva: The contact-transmitted mpox virus differs from the airborne COVID-19 virus, and they do not “spread in the same way,” according to a World Health Organization (WHO) official on Thursday.
Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, and Otim Patrick Ramadan, team leader of the WHO Regional Office for Africa’s Acute Events Management, discussed the mpox virus during an online program held on X.
“We are not seeing the same situation unfold,” Kerkhoveaid said, referring to the coronavirus’s progression.
“Anyone can get mpox if they come into contact with an infected person,” she said. “However, this does not mean that everyone will contract mumps.”
The rapid and efficient transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through the air, which resulted in the rapid global spread of COVID-19, highlights a significant difference in how this virus functions compared to others, she emphasized.
“There is so much we can do with the right information, interrupting transmission in various ways,” she said.
Mpox is a viral disease that can be transmitted through close contact as well as contaminated materials such as sheets, clothing, and needles, according to WHO.
13 countries with MPox
Ramadan noted that “mpox can affect anyone.”
“We are seeing transmission at the household level, affecting children, but we are also seeing adults affected,” he emphasized.
“Now, in the African region, we have an active outbreak in 13 countries, and we are seeing a diverse range of people affected,” the official said.
Noting that 30% of the cases in Burundi and neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak is widespread, are under the age of 18, he stated, “This is concerning.”
He emphasized that vaccination is an additional public health measure for containing the mumps virus, but lamented that the necessary number of vaccines cannot be obtained in Africa.
Ramadan emphasized the importance of “targeted vaccination” of those at high risk of transmission, citing Who is current recommendations for the use of MVA-BN and LC16 vaccines against mpox.
Last week, the World Health Organization and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared polio a public health emergency of international and continental concern.
According to the most recent Africa CDC figures, 17,541 mpox cases and 517 deaths have been reported from 13 African countries.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the current outbreak’s epicenter, accounts for 96% of all cases and 97% of all deaths in 2024.
Congo has reported 16,700 confirmed or suspected mumps cases, with more than 570 deaths.
South Africa had 24 confirmed cases, with three deaths, while Cameroon had five confirmed cases, with two deaths. Burundi has more than 100 cases, Nigeria has 39, Liberia has five, Rwanda has four, Ivory Coast and Uganda each have two, and Kenya has one confirmed case.
