One of the most significant public health threats that Africa faces at the moment is the Mpox or monkeypox. Since it burst into being a public health emergency because of the number of cases and death it has caused, although the Africa CDC says that it has reached alarming proportions, especially within the Democratic Republic of Congo. The revelation has sparked great concern particularly among health chiefs on the continent, while the virus is fast-spreading and has an immense potential to cause serious illness.
Situation at Hand
Over 13,700 cases of Mpox have been counted in the country since the beginning of the year, while around 450 deaths have been reported. It is the rapid mediation of this virus through close contact, including sexual contact, that has majorly been responsible for this speedy dissemination and actually a cause for concern to the health authorities. This has culminated in the rapid coordination of activities geared toward attenuating the impact of the disease and forestalling possible future outbreaks.
MPox is a zoonotic viral infection due to the monkeypox virus, together with variola virus that causes smallpox, the genus Orthopoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. It is considered to be the first new zoonosis dramatically affecting central and west African countries. With the subsequent outbreak throughout the African continent, heightened vigilance and preventive measures became essential in the struggle against this lethal disease.
Mode of Transmission and Symptoms
Mpox transmission takes place through direct physical contact with either an infected person's body fluids, their lesions, or even respiratory droplets. There is also further contamination that is instigated by the materials that the contracted person was in contact with, such as bedding or clothes. Further transmission of Mpox occurs when human beings come into contact with animals by way of bites, scratches, or through contact with meat from an infected animal, mainly rodents and primates.
In Mpox, the standard course of the disease involves fever, myalgias, and malaise, followed by the appearance of characteristic rashes. Later in course of the rash, these rashes may involve: initially macules, flat red lesions that later enlarge to form full, raised bumps or papules that develop into fluid-filled blisters and finally pustules. The pustules fill up with pus, thereafter burst that leads to pain. They leave scars on healing with a scab or change in skin color. Oftentimes, the lesions can leave heavy scarring and give disfigurement in chronic severe cases.
Another characteristic symptom of Mpox is lymphadenopathy, or swollen lymph nodes. This swelling can be tender and painful, and the areas most commonly affected are the neck, armpits, and groin. Other symptoms are sore throat, headache, back pain, and fatigue. Although usually the course of illness is from 2 to 4 weeks, complications such as secondary bacterial infections, pneumonia, or even encephalitis may rarely ensue.
Declaration of State of Public Health Emergency: The declaration of a state of public health emergency over the continent of Africa, together with the case of Mpox, does make it apparent that this infection should be handled at a very high level of urgency. The current state of coordination among governments of different African states, international health bodies, and other stakeholders is that there is room for improvement in access to medical resources and provisions like vaccines and antiviral treatment that might help in keeping the virus under control.
The other major challenge to containing an outbreak of Mpox is that there are extremely limited availability of vaccines and treatment. For instance, while the smallpox vaccine gives some cross-protection against Mpox, the global supply of and accessibility to these vaccines in Africa are finite. This is parallel to creating awareness with the people to educate them on preventive strategies and seeking care at the early stage.
Challenges and Recommendations for the Optimal Control of Mpox Outbreak in the African Setting
Quite a number of factors cause the effective prevention of the outbreak of Mpox within the African continent: a limited quantity of vaccines and treatments with antivirals; far-reaching inaccessibility to healthcare, particularly in remote and underserved areas, much affecting efforts to contain the virus; and misinformation and stigma regarding the illness, for this may instigate late treatment and poor adherence to preventive measures.
As such, it can therefore be controlled using multifaceted approaches including increasing the production and availability of vaccines and antiviral medication to the public with special emphasis on high risk areas. It calls for joint global efforts to ensure that African countries are well equipped for the battle in order to get rid of the outbreak.
Making the communities informed about Mpox therefore quite needs public awareness. The campaigns should target encouraging preventive measures regarding the disease. These include avoiding an infected person, maintaining good good hygiene, and visiting a health facility immediately when one has the symptoms. The health education targeted should therefore also be able to reduce stigma: anybody is at risk of contracting the virus; early treatment will help in preventing further complication and transmission.
Another key element in the response is building up healthcare infrastructure, which includes training healthcare workers in the identification of cases and treatment for Mpox, developing diagnostic capability, and ensuring facilities have the right set of preparedness to deal with cases. Outbreak rapid response teams must investigate and implement containment early in the outbreak process to prevent introducing it into new areas.
The spread of Mpox largely across the African continent in this global village has huge implications on the rest of the world. With much freedom in travel, travelers are at liberty to cross boundaries and keep spreading Mpox outside the boundaries of Africa to the rest of the world, hence risking the occurrence of outbreaks. This has in turn forced global health organizations to keep vigilant about the situation as it is and offer assistance in controlling outbreaks in African countries.
This now places squarely the global case for a coordinated response to forestall the further spread of the virus, including efforts to provide appropriate financial and technical support for African countries, increased global supply of vaccines and treatments in view of the declaration of Mpox as a public health emergency in Africa.
Many other measures can be put in place, including international travel bans, coupled with increased screenings to rule out the possibility of the disease getting into other regions. It is but only necessary to take this measure, as other alternatives will cause a significant devastating effect on public health to minimal disruptions of trades and travels.
The Way Forward
This truly typifies the very high level of urgency that will be required collectively to bring the disease under control; indeed, it has warranted the declaration of Mpox as a public health emergency. In order to stem and eventually eradicate the spread of Mpox, the vaccination, treatment efforts, and increase in awareness among the public will need to be increased.
The essential strategies would, henceforth be scaling up vaccine availability and antiviral treatment, health infrastructure, and raising awareness. International Cooperation in Financial Assistance is the Need of the Hour, such that Africa would be Well prepared and successful in containment.
This will be required urgently in the short term, and it is in the long term, as it is at present and also has the strategy of informing the ecology of Mpox and their animal reservoirs. In other words, that implies research of the dynamics of virus transmission, possible mutations, and the development of increasingly efficient vaccines, and treatment right to the point where at a future time further outbreaks can be prevented.
It should also alert the global health community to any sign of a spillover of the Mpox virus into other regions. In these regards, early detection and rapid response will be very important in ensuring that the virus does not start taking its roots in new areas, consequently causing more public health emergencies.
Conclusion
Mpox Gospel of many today: a trumpet call to come forth and do yet what ought to be done on the continent in regard to zoonotic diseases. Declaring Mpox a public health emergency in Africa will underline what needs to be done, while an outbreak of this dimension is met with a coordinated, comprehensive, integrated response. It is in this way that the African governments, international health bodies, and the communities concerned will effectively overcome these challenges to safeguard public health.
With continued struggles to stamp out outbreaks of Mpox, the world must awaken to the fact that it is not only an African problem. Time has come for the world to unite in solidarity through efforts to contain and eliminate Mpox, with no region left behind in pursuit of a healthier, safer world.
Source:
BBC
