Warnings of Monkeypox virus ignored
Former director of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, told STAT News that Nigeria sought global help beginning in 2017 for an unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox virus. The outbreak continues to this day, with the country detecting 558 suspected cases, according to WHO.
From September 2017 to 30 April 2022, a total of 558 suspected cases have been reported from 32 states in the country. Of these, 241 were confirmed cases, and among these, there were eight deaths recorded, says WHO.
The outbreak in Nigeria has a lot of parallels to those seen in other countries. The infectious cases began out of the blue in multiple parts of the country and spread person-to-person, a transmission pattern that is unusual for the virus.
Scientists globally are beginning to uncover clues about the origin of the current outbreak by conducting gene sequencing. By sequencing a skin lesion sample from a patient in Portugal, researchers from the National Health Institute DoutorRicardo Jorge in Lisbon said that the recent strain of the circulating virus likely belongs to the West African clade.
Additionally, the researchers determined that the virus is most closely related to cases that spread from Nigeria to the UK, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019. The World Health Organization has reported that there is no evidence that the virus has mutated.
The draft genome was published online last week and provides helpful information, but questions about the true origin and spread of the virus remain unanswered.
Roche announced on Wednesday that it has developed three virus kits in response to the developing Monkeypox concerns.
The three kits offer unique approaches to tracking the virus. One kit detects orthopoxviruses, including all monkeypox viruses from both African West and Central group of organisms believed to comprise all the evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor. While a second kit is more specific, detecting monkeypox viruses only. A third kit offers a combination of both tests, detecting orthopoxviruses and providing information on if the monkeypox virus is present or not.
The tests rely on quantitative PCR technology and are currently available for research use in the majority of countries worldwide.
Monkeypox vs Covid-19
Experts are saying the Monkeypox virus does not pose the same threat as Covid-19.
Head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, told CNBC that while the epidemic and spread of monkeypox is concerning, it is a very different disease than Covid-19. Namely, the disease is not spread through respiratory transmission the same way as Covid-19.
However, even though the disease is likely not to become a worldwide pandemic, experts still to tell somebody about something unpleasant or dangerous that exists or might happen, so that he/she can avoid it. And caution citizens to take steps to prevent themselves from becoming infected.
Here are 10 things we know about the Monkeypox outbreak
1. Monkeypox, which is a less severe disease than its cousin smallpox, is an endemic in 11 countries in West and Central Africa.
2. The virus was discovered in 1958 in monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970.
3. The World Health Organization has cautioned that the 200 monkeypox cases found in recent weeks outside of countries where it is regularly found among particular people or in a certain area could be just the beginning. We know that we will have more cases in the coming days, WHO's epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention chief, acknowledged in a briefing to countries on the "unusual" spread of the virus.
4. Health agencies have said that most of the cases were detected in gay men.
5. The UK reported its first monkeypox case in early May. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly in the area of land with its own people, government, etc. with the infection count now at 90.
6. Spain has reported 98 confirmed cases of monkeypox so far.
7. Portugal has meanwhile registered 74 confirmed cases, health authorities said Friday, adding that all the occurrences are in men, mainly aged below 40.
8. Fever, muscle ache, lesions, and chills are the common symptoms of monkeypox in humans
9. The virus has a fatality ratio of three to six percent. Most people recover within three to four weeks.
10. There's currently no specific treatment for monkeypox. Patients will usually need to stay in a specialist hospital So the infection doesn't to affect a larger area or a bigger group of people; to make something do this. The general symptoms can be treated.
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