After a sharp decline in cases in recent months, the World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the global outbreak of mpox, which initially perplexed doctors when the smallpox-related illness spread to more than 100 nations last year, is no longer an international emergency.
Monkeypox, commonly known as mpox, was deemed an “extraordinary” scenario that qualified as a worldwide catastrophe by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in July of last year.
In doing so, he disregarded the WHO expert committee’s advice, which opposed the declaration of an emergency.
According to Tedros, the innovative manner of spreading mpox through sexual contact in several nations where there had never been instances reported raised many issues that need additional research.
Nearly all cases involved males who were gay, bisexual or had sex with other men.
At a press conference on Thursday, he stated that his expert group had concluded that the recent rapid fall in cases—which has seen roughly 90% fewer cases in the last three months—no longer presented a serious threat.
Based on the lessons learned from HIV and strong collaboration with the most impacted populations, Tedros remarked, “We now see steady progress in controlling the outbreak.”
He further stated that the predicted retaliation against the people most affected by the outbreak “has largely not materialized” and that he was “pleased to declare that the mpox is no longer a global health emergency.”
The WHO downgraded COVID-19 last week, stating that the worst of the pandemic was past and that the coronavirus should be treated like other respiratory illnesses. The announcement on Thursday follows this.
Mpox is well-established in several areas of central and west Africa, where mice and other wild animals primarily infect people.
But until last May, when hundreds of epidemics broke out in Europe, North America, and other places, the disease was not known to cause significant outbreaks outside the continent or spread quickly among humans.
The symptoms of mpox most frequently include a rash, fever, headache, muscle discomfort, and swollen lymph nodes.
The disease is transferred through direct physical contact with an infected person, their clothing, or their bedsheets, and the skin lesions can last up to a month. The majority of people can heal without medical assistance.
Scientists eventually concluded that intercourse between homosexual and bisexual males during parties was the cause of the extraordinary outbreak.
The infections in Europe and North America started to subside shortly after Tedros declared monkeypox a global emergency last year, and there were no indications of widespread transmission outside of men who were homosexual, bisexual, or had intercourse with other men.
According to European health officials, 96% of mpox sufferers are men who have had sex with other men, making up 98% of the population.
Rich nations swiftly used the mepox vaccine, and reports of severe sickness were comparatively uncommon.
Since then, cases in Europe and North America have dwindled. More than 87,000 cases and 140 fatalities have been reported globally to date, according to WHO. However, according to WHO, the number of cases increased by 64% in the preceding week, with most cases occurring in the Americas and the Western Pacific.
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