Barran Press
The recent surge in monkeypox cases in Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the disease a global health emergency, its highest level of alert.
The outbreak, which has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries like Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO. Since January 2023, over 27,000 cases and 1,100 deaths, mostly among children, have been recorded in Congo.
Monkeypox was first discovered in Denmark in 1958 in monkeys used for research and was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are two sub-types of the virus: clade 1, which is more deadly and prevalent in the Congo Basin of Central Africa, and clade 2, which is more common in West Africa.
Transmission:
Monkeypox and COVID-19 are vastly different viruses. COVID-19 is a coronavirus, while monkeypox is an enveloped virus. This makes COVID-19 more capable of spreading and mutating, according to the American Society for Microbiology, the largest and oldest organization specializing in viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that spreads when an infected person breathes out small droplets containing the virus. If another person inhales these droplets or they land on their eyes, nose, or mouth, they may become infected.
COVID-19 spreads efficiently through the air, making it difficult to control as one person can infect many others simply by breathing. Furthermore, infected individuals can spread the virus even if they don't show symptoms.
Monkeypox, on the other hand, can be transmitted through respiratory secretions, but it's not a respiratory virus, making it less contagious.
Monkeypox primarily spreads through direct contact (usually prolonged) with an infected person, particularly when touching the rash caused by the virus or body fluids. It can also spread through contact with objects and surfaces used by an infected person, especially if they have touched skin sores.
Sexual contact is also a major route of transmission. Pregnant women with monkeypox can also transmit the virus to their fetus during pregnancy or to their newborn at birth.
Symptoms:
COVID-19 symptoms typically appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can include fever, chills, headache, sore throat, and loss of taste or smell. Most people recover within a few days to a few weeks, although some experience long-term symptoms lasting more than 3 months, known as "long COVID".
The risk of severe COVID-19 depends on several factors, including the type of variant causing the infection, vaccination status, age, and whether the person has underlying health conditions or HIV/AIDS.
Monkeypox symptoms can take up to 3 weeks to appear after exposure. While it varies from case to case, the symptoms can be similar to COVID-19 in the early stages of infection, such as fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, back pain, and fatigue.
Clinically, monkeypox differs from COVID-19 in that it involves the development of pus-filled blisters and a rash, which can be painful and itchy and tend to spread on the face, extremities, and genitals.
Most people recover from monkeypox within 2 to 4 weeks.
The disease can be severe and even fatal in certain cases, such as those with underlying health conditions, but the fatality rate is not close to that of COVID-19.
According to the WHO, the outbreak around the world in early 2022, when the "2b" sub-type spread, resulted in about 140 deaths out of roughly 90,000 cases.
Can It Become a Pandemic?
Health experts warn that if not contained, the virus could spread again globally.
The WHO has announced that so far this year, over 15,600 cases and 537 deaths have been reported in Congo, exceeding the total number of cases detected last year.
The New York Times quotes Dr. Trish Perl, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Texas, as saying: "I don't think the risk right now is high at all, but we need to be vigilant."
According to the American Society for Microbiology, there are many differences compared to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, COVID-19 was a novel virus when it emerged in late 2019, and as a result, the world had no vaccines or immunity against the virus, leading to its rapid spread.
The emergence of new COVID-19 variants, along with the virus's ability to spread efficiently from person to person through the air, played a key role in its transformation into a global pandemic.
Monkeypox, on the other hand, is not a new disease, having been discovered decades ago. Scientists have a good understanding of it, unlike COVID-19.
Most importantly, as monkeypox spreads primarily through close contact, it is less efficient in spreading between humans.
Additionally, vaccines are available to reduce the impact of the disease, although there are challenges regarding their availability to highly vulnerable communities, particularly in Africa.