Monkeypox - an explainer

Monkeypox disease is in news, as the US investigates cases of an infected man aboard a flight.

 Monkeypox - an explainer

---

• The story: The US started surveillance on people travelling from Nigeria, who may be carriers of Monkeypox virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is concerned passengers who were on board two flights alongwith an infected man may have been exposed to the disease. He flew into Atlanta, Georgia from Lagos, Nigeria on 9 July, before taking a flight to Dallas, where he was hospitalised. The chances of the disease spreading on the plane were low because passengers had to wear face masks, due to Covid-19.
• Monkeypox: It is a viral zoonotic disease (transmission from animals to humans) and identified as a pox-like disease among monkeys hence named Monkeypox. It is endemic to Nigeria, caused by the 'monkeypox virus', a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. The natural host of the virus remains undefined, but the disease has been reported in many animals. Animals sources include monkeys and apes, a variety of rodents (including rats, mice, squirrels and prairie dogs) and rabbits.
• Disease outbreaks: It was first reported in 1958, in monkeys in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in humans in 1970, also in the DRC. In 2017, Nigeria experienced the largest documented outbreak, 40 years after the last confirmed case. Since then, the disease has been reported in many West and Central African countries.
• 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. There is no specific treatment or vaccine available for Monkeypox infection. In the past, the anti-smallpox vaccine was shown to be 85% effective in preventing Monkeypox. But the world was declared free of smallpox in 1980 so the vaccine isn’t widely available anymore. There is no global system in place to manage the spread of Monkeypox, with each country struggling to contain any outbreak whenever it occurs.
• Summary: Improved surveillance and response, raising awareness of the disease and avoiding contact with wild animals, especially monkeys, is the need of the hour. Animals that might have come into contact with an infected animal should be quarantined, handled with standard precautions and observed for monkeypox symptoms for 30 days. Covid-19 has made it tough to focus on these other diseases, which must not be the case anymore.

 

Join PT courses | PT Youtube | PT App | Contribute |  Testimonials