Monkeypox alert: Deadlier variant found in Thailand
4:29 PM EDT, August 22, 2024
The Centers for Disease Control in Thailand have confirmed a case of monkeypox in the country. The case involves a European who arrived in Bangkok from Africa on August 14. Laboratory tests confirmed on Thursday that this case is a new, more dangerous disease mutation.
The variant of monkeypox detected in Thailand in a European resident who previously stayed in Africa and traveled from there to Bangkok is a more contagious mutation of the disease. This mpox strain is responsible for the rapid spread of infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Due to the sharp increase in disease cases in African countries, the World Health Organization is warning that the situation poses a global public health threat. The organization's head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has declared the highest possible level of alert.
Monkeypox poses a threat. A more dangerous, more contagious variant of the disease has been detected in Thailand
Confirmation of the presence of mpox in Thailand means that the disease is already spreading in Asia. A case of monkeypox was previously detected in the Philippines.
According to Teodoro Herbosa, a representative of the Filipino Ministry of Health, ten outbreaks related to the significantly less contagious variant of this disease have already occurred in the country. The new and more dangerous mutation of monkeypox is a confirmed cause of death for at least 500 people in the Republic of the Congo. The disease has also been detected in Kenya and Uganda.
Mpox is also present in Europe. In April, 10 cases of "ordinary" monkeypox were reported in Sweden, and the first case of the new variant was confirmed on August 15. It is more expensive than the previous ones. It turned out that the Swedish patient had also previously stayed in an African country where disease outbreaks had occurred.
According to Bloomberg, health officials fighting the deadly mpox epidemic in Africa are trying to avoid mistakes that cost many lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the week when the World Health Organization declared the spread of the potentially deadly disease on an international scale, there was talk of bringing vaccines to Africa. They are expected to arrive next week.
Source: "Hindustan Times"
