The Mpox outbreak has been declared an emergency by the World Health Organisation. A viral infection that spreads through close contact, Mpox now represents a global health emergency for the second time in two years.
In the wake of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring mpox — a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus — as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine has directed Airport Health Officers and Port Health Officers to be on high alert, particularly with respect to passengers arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African countries.
In a circular issued to all District Health Officers (DHO), Airport Health Officers in Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai, and Coimbatore, and Port Health Officers in Chennai and Tuticorin, the Director of Public Health T.S. Selvavinayagam asked them to get familiarised with the clinical presentation of mpox, undertake strict thermal screening, and check the history of travel to affected countries in the last 21 days.
Why Is MPox Public Health Emergency?
A “public health emergency of international concern” or PHEIC is WHO’s highest form of alert. A PHEIC is announced when diseases begin to spread in new or unusual ways, and is aimed at galvanising international co-operation and funding to tackle an outbreak. WHO’s declaration follows a similar label from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week.
Two years ago, WHO declared an emergency over the spread of a form of Mpox virus when it began to spread globally, largely among men who have sex with men. Subsequently, the outbreak in 2022 was brought under control after behaviour change and safe sex practices, plus vaccines, helped people at risk protect themselves in many countries.
MPOX, Current Cases
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Mpox has become a public health problem in parts of Africa for decades. The first ever human case was in Congo in 1970, and it has had outbreaks ever since.
The current outbreak, Congo’s worst ever, has seen 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths since January 2023, largely among children.
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