Monkeypox

• 25 Jul 2022

For Prelims: Viral zoonosis, Monkey Pox, Small Pox

For Mains: Zoonotic Diseases, Health

Why in News?

Recently, the WHO (World Health Organisation) has Declared Global Health Emergency and sounded the highest alarm on the Monkeypox Virus.

• More than 16,000 cases of the virus - that was once largely confined to Africa - have been reported so far this year 2022.

What does Declaring an Emergency for Global Health Mean?

• About:
  • Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response.
• Elements helped consider Health Emergency:
  • The virus has spread to “non-endemic countries”. This virus has spread rapidly to many countries that have not seen it before.
  • Three criteria for declaring a public health emergency of international concern have been met as per WHO.
    • The three criteria for such a declaration are that it is an "Extraordinary Event," that it "Constitutes a Public Health Risk” to other States through the international spread of disease and that it "potentially requires a coordinated international response."
  • The number - within a month - has grown five-fold.
  • Scientific principles, evidence and other relevant information, are currently insufficient, leaving many unknowns.
  • The risk to human health, international spread, and the potential for interference with international traffic.
• Previously Declared Emergency:
  • WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate Polio.
  • The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak.

What is Monkeypox?

• About:
  • Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity.
  • The infection was first discovered in 1958 following two outbreaks of a pox-like disease in colonies of monkeys kept for research — which led to the name ‘monkeypox’.
• Symptoms:
  • Infected people break out in a rash that looks a lot like chicken pox. But the fever, malaise, and headache from Monkeypox are usually more severe than in chicken pox infection.
  • In the early stage of the disease, Monkeypox can be distinguished from smallpox because the lymph gland gets enlarged.
• Transmission:
  • Primary infection is through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of an infected animal. Eating inadequately cooked meat of infected animals is also a risk factor.
  • Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with infected respiratory tract secretions, skin lesions of an infected person or objects recently contaminated by patient fluids or lesion materials.
  • Transmission can also occur by inoculation or via the placenta (congenital monkeypox).
• Vulnerability:
  • It spreads rapidly and can cause one out of ten deaths if infected.
• Treatment and Vaccine:
  • There is no specific treatment or vaccine available for Monkeypox infection,
    • But the European Union has recommended a Small Pox Vaccine, Imvanex to treat monkeypox after the WHO declared monkeypox a global health emergency.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q. Critically examine the role of WHO in providing global health security during the Covid-19 pandemic. (2020)

Source: IE