The viral illness monkeypox is spreading around the world, leading to fears the virus could embed itself as the next global health threat.
Just two weeks after the World Health Organization issued its highest emergency alert following a worldwide surge in monkeypox cases, the US has declared it a public health emergency.
In the UK, a total of 2,759 infections have been detected. The majority have been found in London, but health officials have warned that the virus has begun to spread outside the capital too. “Time is slipping away quite quickly,” said the Terrence Higgins Trust, which helped coordinate the national effort to contain it.
How worried should we be about monkeypox?
Monkeypox is already endemic in ten countries in West and Central Africa, with dozens of cases reported this year in Cameroon, Nigeria and the Central African Republic. These figures “are almost certainly underestimates”, said Science.org. Many infections happen in remote and rural areas, and data collection is hampered by conflict in several regions.
In the UK, LGBTQ+ groups have warned that the illness risks becoming endemic in Britain unless the government takes tougher action to curb its spread. Writing to Health Secretary Steve Barclay, an alliance of charities and activists called for “clear, non-stigmatising messaging” and improvements to efforts to vaccinate those most at risk.
They are also advising against panic. Although headlines might look “grim enough that you might be worried that monkeypox is like Sars or Covid”, this virus is “much less contagious and much less likely to be deadly than Covid”, said The New York Times. There are also treatments and vaccines which are effective against the illness.
Could it have been stopped?
In the time since monkeypox has been detected outside of Africa, limited vaccination campaigns have begun in Western countries, intended to inoculate at-risk populations with vaccines originally developed to protect against smallpox.
Yet despite thousands of cases detected in Africa since it emerged on the continent in 1970, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths, “not a single vaccination campaign has been set up on the continent”, said Quartz. A group of Nigerian scientists “rang the alarm bell” about the spread of monkeypox in 2018, it reported. Had jabs been offered there before the virus emerged elsewhere on the planet, “the current emergency would likely not exist”.
But African countries “don’t have stockpiles of smallpox vaccine – nor access to treatment”. And Western countries have failed to donate any stockpiled doses, which they have held in case of a potential bio-terror attack, “all the while ignoring the actual risk of having a preventable infectious disease circulate on the other side of the world”.
As monkeypox continues to spread and Western nations struggle to find an adequate response, we are seeing “yet another example of the shortcomings of global health approaches that rely on rich countries to lead the fight against diseases”, said the news site.
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Ugonjwa wa virusi vya monkeypox unaenea duniani kote, na kusababisha hofu kwamba virusi hivyo vinaweza kuwa tishio jingine la afya duniani. Wiki mbili tu baada ya Shirika la Afya Duniani (WHO) kutoa tahadhari ya dharura baada ya kuongezeka kwa visa vya ugonjwa wa monkeypox duniani kote, Marekani imetangaza hali ya dharura ya afya ya umma. Katika Uingereza, jumla ya maambukizi 2,759 yamegunduliwa. Idadi kubwa ya maambukizi hayo yametokea London, lakini maafisa wa afya wametoa onyo kwamba virusi hivyo vimeanza kuenea nje ya mji mkuu. "Wakati unapita haraka sana", alisema shirika la Terrence Higgins Trust, ambalo lilisaidia kuratibu jitihada za kitaifa za kuuzuia. Tunapaswa kuwa na wasiwasi kadiri gani kuhusu ugonjwa wa chembe za nyani? Ugonjwa wa monkeypox umesambaa katika nchi kumi za Afrika Magharibi na Afrika ya Kati, na kesi kadhaa zimeripotiwa mwaka huu nchini Cameroon, Nigeria na Jamhuri ya Afrika ya Kati. Takwimu hizo "kwa hakika hazikadiriwa kwa kiasi kikubwa", likasema Science.org. Ugonjwa huo unaenea katika maeneo ya mashambani na ya mbali, na kukusanya takwimu kunazuiwa na migogoro katika maeneo kadhaa. "LGBTQ+ makundi nchini Uingereza yameonya kuwa ugonjwa huo una hatari ya kuwa wa kawaida nchini humo isipokuwa serikali itachukua hatua kali zaidi kuzuia kuenea kwake.""" Katika barua kwa Waziri wa Afya Steve Barclay, muungano wa mashirika ya misaada na wanaharakati waliomba ujumbe wa wazi, usio na chembechembe na maboresho ya juhudi za kuwa chanjo kwa wale walio hatarini zaidi. Pia wanashauri watu wasishiriki katika vitisho hivyo. Ingawa vichwa vya habari vinaweza kuonekana kuwa "kijani kibichi vya kutosha kwamba unaweza kuwa na wasiwasi kwamba ugonjwa wa chembe za nyani ni kama Sars au Covid", virusi hivi ni "viambukizi kidogo na uwezekano mdogo wa kuwa hatari kuliko Covid", alisema The New York Times. Pia kuna matibabu na chanjo ambazo zina matokeo dhidi ya ugonjwa huo. Je, ingeweza kusimamishwa? Tangu ugonjwa wa chembe za nyani kugundua nje ya Afrika, kampeni ndogo za chanjo zimeanza katika nchi za Magharibi, na lengo ni kuingiza watu walio hatarini kwa chanjo zilizotengenezwa awali kulinda dhidi ya chembe za nywele. "Lakini licha ya maelfu ya kesi zilizogunduliwa Afrika tangu ilipoibuka katika bara hilo mnamo 1970, ambayo imesababisha mamia ya vifo, ""hakuna kampeni moja ya chanjo iliyoanzishwa katika bara hilo,"" alisema Quartz." Kikundi cha wanasayansi wa Nigeria walipiga kengele ya kuonya kuhusu kuenea kwa ugonjwa wa monkeypox mwaka 2018. Kama chanjo zingepewa huko kabla ya virusi kuibuka mahali pengine duniani, "hali ya dharura ya sasa haiwezekani". Lakini nchi za Afrika "hazina hifadhi za chanjo ya ugonjwa wa ndui" wala hazina upatikanaji wa matibabu. "Na nchi za Magharibi zimeshindwa kutoa dozi zozote zilizowekwa akiba, ambazo zimehifadhiwa kwa ajili ya tukio la uwezekano wa shambulio la kigaidi cha kibiolojia, ""wakipuuza hatari halisi ya kuwa na ugonjwa wa kuambukiza unaoweza kuepukwa unaozunguka upande mwingine wa dunia.""" "Wakati ugonjwa wa chembechembe unaendelea kuenea na mataifa ya Magharibi yanapojitahidi kupata majibu ya kutosha, tunaona ""mfano mwingine wa mapungufu ya mbinu za afya za kimataifa ambazo zinategemea nchi tajiri kuongoza mapambano dhidi ya magonjwa,"" alisema tovuti ya habari." Kukataa kuwa na daraka! Toys Matrix ni aggregator moja kwa moja kuzunguka vyombo vya habari vya kimataifa. Maudhui yote yanapatikana bila malipo kwenye Intaneti. Tumepanga tu katika jukwaa moja kwa madhumuni ya kielimu tu. Katika kila maudhui, hyperlink kwa chanzo cha msingi ni maalum. Alama zote za biashara ni mali ya wamiliki wao wa haki, vifaa vyote ni mali ya waandishi wao. Kama wewe ni mmiliki wa maudhui na hawataki sisi kuchapisha vifaa yako kwenye tovuti yetu, tafadhali wasiliana nasi kwa barua pepe <unk> admin@toysmatrix.com. Maudhui hayo yatafutwa ndani ya saa 24.