Bahrain strong against Monkeypox, says WHO

TDT | Manama  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter  

While the United Arab Emirates has confirmed its first case, there are many other suspected cases of Monkeypox in Arab countries and in the region, said Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari, Regional Director for Eastern Mediterranean at World Health Organisation (WHO), during an online press conference yesterday. 

No deaths have been linked to Monkeypox following the non-endemic spread of the virus during the past one month.  Dr Ahmed praised Bahrain’s success in tackling the Covid-19 threat, highlighting that the Kingdom has a strong system to combat infectious diseases including Monkeypox. 

“Monkeypox is containable in the Arab region and what is required now is close cooperation between nations and increased awareness among the people to stop transmission of virus.” Dr Ahmed said people are the main partners in combatting any virus transmission. 

He said that 157 confirmed cases have been reported from 17 countries worldwide and 106 suspected cases are still under examination. “After reporting the first case, the UAE is in its best efforts to trace contacts and prevent the transmission of virus. Countries in the region already have accumulated experience in order to protect individuals from the disease.” 

Speaking at the press conference, Dr Rana Hajjeh, Director of Programme Management at WHO, said the organisation doesn’t recommend any lockdowns or isolations for Monkeypox.

“The role of the media is pivotal in spreading accurate information and I urge all not to spread any misleading information. Quite similar to Covid-19, contact tracing is important in cases of Monkeypox as well.” 

She said Monkeypox is not expected to spread like Covid-19 and every disease has different precautionary measures. “Healthcare systems must be continuously supported with human and financial resources to face the challenges. And the training of healthcare workers is of great importance as they are in the forefront of the fight against the virus.” 

Dr Rana said there are vaccines that give protection from Monkeypox and even Smallpox vaccines are also effective against the virus. “Widespread vaccination is not a recommendation.”  Dr Abdinasir AbuBakar, Manager, Infectious Hazards Prevention and Preparedness Unit, WHO, said Monkeypox is not a new disease.

“We have been seeing this disease since the beginning of the 1970s. But it is the first time we are seeing something of this higher magnitude, especially in non-endemic countries.”

Dr Abdinasir said that the symptoms of Monkeypox are fever, swollen lymph nodes and rashes, and in some the symptoms are really severe.

“Knowledge matters in the fight against Monkeypox, unless you know the virus you cannot tackle it.

“There are two active strains of Monkeypox virus, the Central African and West African and out of these two, the Central African strain is much more severe.” 

When asked about the contribution of climate change to the increasing cases of infectious diseases, he said there should be a connection “but it is unclear”.

Dr Abdinasir said the recovery rate is very high in cases of Monkeypox with a fatality rate varying between one and 10%.  

“It is clearly known that the origin of the virus is from animals and there is no specific answer for the increasing number of transmissions. The virus has not changed genetically, which is good news and there have been no mutations.”  

Dr Abdinasir said the Monkeypox virus has nothing to do with the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “The virus has not changed genetically. It is not biologically manufactured or biologically modified.

Spain's Monkeypox case tally rises to 84

Spanish health authorities reported 25 new cases of monkeypox yesterday, bringing the total tally of infections in one of the main hot spots of the recent outbreak to 84.

The Health Ministry, which now considers all non-human-origin pox infections as monkeypox after a positive test while before only counting those confirmed by sequencing, also said there were 73 suspected cases.

Spain, England and Portugal are the countries with the most cases in the recent outbreak of the usually mild viral disease outside its endemic areas in parts of west and central Africa.

Spain's neighbour Portugal confirmed nine new infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 58. The US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had identified nine monkeypox cases in seven US states as of Wednesday.

Cases were confirmed in Massachusetts, Florida, Utah, Washington, California, Virginia and New York, the CDC told reporters yesterday.

The first monkeypox case in the United States was reported in Massachusetts last week. Most of the infections detected globally so far have not been severe. Symptoms include fever and a distinctive bumpy rash.

Vaccine stockpiles

The WHO classified smallpox as an eradicated disease in 1980, but there have been longstanding concerns that the virus could be used as a bioweapon, leading countries to stockpile vaccines.

The WHO holds 2.4 million doses at its Swiss headquarters dating from the final years of the eradication programme. The agency also has pledges from donor countries for more than 31 million additional doses.

US officials say there are more than 1,000 doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine in the national stockpile and expect that level to ramp up very quickly in the coming weeks. The country also has 100 million doses of ACAM2000.  

Germany has said it had ordered 40,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine, to be ready to vaccinate contacts of cases if needed.

Other countries, including Britain and France, are also offering or recommending vaccines to people with close contact to infected people and healthcare workers.

Bavarian Nordic, which has an annual production capacity of 30 million doses, told Reuters multiple countries have approached it interested in buying its vaccine, without providing details. A spokesperson said it does not need to expand production.