This Is The Reason WHO The Mpox Virus Can Be Stopped And Controlled

Illustration of the mpox vaccination ampoule. BETWEEN/Anolulu/PY

Monkeypox or Mpox is an infectious disease and transmission can occur through animals and humans.

Secretary-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday, August 23, said the new Mpox smallpox virus could be stopped and controlled.

"This new Mpox outbreak can be controlled and stopped," Tedros said, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, August 24.

"To do so requires joint action between international institutions and national and local partners, civil society, researchers and producers, as well as you, our member states," he added at a briefing to WHO members, the UN health organization.

It is stated that more than 100,000 confirmed Mpox cases have been reported to WHO since the global outbreak began in 2022. He also reported an unprecedented increase in cases in Africa.

"The transmission is now centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 90 percent of the cases reported in 2024. There have been more than 16,000 suspected cases, including 575 deaths, this year alone," he said.

Tedros has put forward how the virus was declared a public health emergency of international concern. Last month, cases of the virus strain Clade 1b were reported not only from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, which borders Congo, but also from Thailand and Sweden, where previous cases had never been reported.

Tedros noted that WHO and its partners have developed a Global Preparedness and Response Strategic Plan for the Mpox Virus to stop the outbreak through coordinated global, regional and national efforts. "The plan focuses on implementing comprehensive surveillance and response strategies; advancing research and fair access to medical measures; minimizing zoonosis transmission; and empowering communities to actively participate in preventing and controlling outbreaks," he said.

Tedros said that WHO has worked with various international, regional, national and local partners to increase preparedness against the virus and improve coordination in the response of a number of key areas.

He noted that the WHO Regional Office for Africa will lead a joint coordination of Mpox response efforts in the African region, in collaboration with Ethiopia-based African CDC, where the need for a response is the greatest.