The fear of Mpox!

“Mpox has now crossed borders, affecting thousands across the continent, families have been torn apart…It is a recognition that we can no longer afford to be reactive. We must be proactive”

-Jean Kaseya (Head, Africa CDC).

Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, with two distinct clades: Clade I and Clade II. Common symptoms include a skin rash or mucosal lesions lasting 2–4 weeks, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) the declaration of emergency over the outbreak of Mpox (formerly known as monkey pox) has become compelling because about 38, 465 cases and 1,456 deaths have been recorded since January 2024. In fact, the figures have risen by 160% in 2024 compared to 2023. This startling revelation was made as at August 4,2024 by Kaseya.

Breaking it down, the figures reeled out began with the hardest hit country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, as having 13,791 cases with 450 deaths. Others include Cameroun with 35 cases and 2 deaths, South Africa with 22 cases and 3 deaths, and Congo with 146 cases and one death. Though the Central Africa Republic, CAR and Burundi recorded 213 and 8 cases respectively there were no deaths. Other countries such as Liberia, Ghana, and Rwanda also recorded 5, 4 and 2 cases in that order but not a single death. But what about our dear country, Nigeria? It has so far recorded 24 cases but no death. That is according to the Africa CDC. Yet, it is not the time to assume that all is well with us, when it comes to the Mpox spread.

Kaseya has therefore, called for urgent preventive measures to be put in place to reduce the likely devastating effects of the disease. This situation has therefore, brought forth the all-important questions of what the Mpox is truly about, its means of spread, the symptoms, what we all should avoid and of course, the cure? Good enough, the answers are not farfetched, as provided by the World Health Organisation, WHO and medical experts across the globe.

Mpox is an infectious disease caused by monkey pox virus leading to a painful rash on the skin and enlarged lymph nodes. The means of transmission is from animals to human beings, through close contact with an affected person. That could be skin-to-skin contact, close breathing with the victim and sometimes through sexual intercourse. It has been assessed as dangerous for children, pregnant women and people with low immunity.

The symptoms include fever, muscle ache, and lesions across the body. Though most of the victims recover from it some get seriously ill and eventually die. That perhaps, explains why the WHO declared it an emergency back in July 2022 ending in May, 2023. Though it used to be called monkey pox, WHO renamed it Mpox in 2022 to reduce the stigma attached to it and the discrimination with an animal’s name.

But now, it has become a clear and present danger which should not to be treated with kid gloves. That brings us to the response of the federal government to it so far and what exactly we all should be doing to clip the wings of the fast-spreading Mpox. The federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has directed that all passengers coming through airports to fill a health declaration form to ensure safety. That is in sync with the Global Protocol through the Port Health Services. But much more should be done to reduce its spread and the attendant casualties.

To do so we have to learn from the past mistakes made. For instance, the Ebola disease, caused by the virus which originated from Guinea and the Central Africa Republic became viral after the deaths of Patrick Sawyer and Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh in July 2014. Eventually, it raised to a fatality rate of 42.1% with 894 contacts and 20 deaths. But the Lagos state government, led by the then Gov. Babatunde Raji took proactive measures, including mass publicity blitz and mobilisation to rein in its potentially dangerous spread.

Similar steps should be taken right away, not only by the federal government but the states and local government councils. The citizens should be enlightened on the causes, the symptoms and the steps to avoid the Mpox. Such should be carried out using the local languages and must be sustained.

If such was not done during the rampage of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which led to the socio-economic lockdown the virus could have recorded more than 265,105 cases and 3,155 deaths here in Nigeria. Such an unexpected situation makes it mandatory for states and the federal governments to spend adequate funds on healthcare delivery.

For instance, while the United States-ranked as the country with the highest expenditure on health-spends an average of 17% of its Gross Domestic Product, GDP on that all-important and life-saving sector, Nigeria’s budgetary percentage on healthcare for 2024 is a parlous 4.64%. In 2020 it was. 3.38%. That runs against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3) which aims to prevent needles suffering of the people from preventable diseases and premature deaths.

Now is therefore, the right time to re-think our abysmal expenditure on healthcare delivery, to be accountable for funds allocated to it and be proactive instead of reactive to the threat of Mpox, as Kaseya has rightly admonished.