(14 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dakar – 14 August 2024
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1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Mednick, The Associated Press:
"The World Health Organization has declared imports outbreaks in Congo and other African countries a global health emergency. Here’s what we know. Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease that spreads through close contact. It’s from the same family as smallpox, but the symptoms are a little bit less, such as body aches, fevers, as well as chills. More than 500 people have died from the virus and thousands of people have been infected. This is more than 160% increase of cases from the same time last year, and nearly a 20% increase in the number of deaths. There’s more than a dozen countries affected, but Congo has the majority of the cases. It’s impacted adults as well as children, and there are a growing number of children than ever before that or being hit by the virus, say health officials. There’s also a new strain of the virus that is emerging and has people very concerned. There is a way to stem mpox, but it requires the use of vaccines. And health officials say there are not enough vaccines on the African continent. The declaration by the World Health Organization, the hope is that it pushes donors and countries into action to send more money, resources as well as vaccines to countries in Africa."
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STORYLINE:
The World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency on Wednesday, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent.
Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the mpox outbreaks were a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths, and called for international help to stop the virus’ spread.
“This is something that should concern us all … The potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Africa CDC previously said mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been detected in 13 countries this year, but more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in Congo. Cases are up 160% and deaths are up 19% compared with the same period last year. So far, there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 people have died.
“We are now in a situation where (mpox) poses a risk to many more neighbors in and around central Africa,” said Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious diseases expert who chairs the Africa CDC emergency group. He said the new version of mpox spreading from Congo appears to have a death rate of about 3-4%.
In 2022, WHO declared mpox to be a global emergency after it spread to more than 70 countries that had not previously reported mpox, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men. In that outbreak, fewer than 1% of people died.
Michael Marks, a professor of medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said declaring these latest mpox outbreaks in Africa an emergency is warranted in that might lead to more support to contain them.
“It’s a failure of the global community that things had to get this bad to release the resources needed,” he said.
Officials at the Africa CDC said nearly 70% of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85% of deaths.
Save the Children said Congo’s health system already had been “collapsing” under the strain of malnutrition, measles and cholera.
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