Mpox is ‘not the new Covid,’ says WHO
Hans Kluge has stated that the newest strain of mpox is more contagious but will not lead to the same level of societal disruption as Covid-19. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for Europe, stated during a briefing that the disease can be manageably controlled without resorting to another lockdown across Europe.
Kluge emphasized that mpox, previously referred to as monkeypox, does not represent the same level of threat to public health as Covid-19, and is not expected to trigger a "cycle of panic" leading to lockdowns. Earlier this month, the WHO classified mpox as a public health emergency of international concern, a status it assigned to Covid-19 in early 2020. A mild variant of the virus, known as Clade 2, spread globally in 2022, while a more transmissible variant, Clade 1b, has resulted in hundreds of fatalities in central Africa and was recently identified in Sweden.
During a UN briefing on Tuesday, Kluge highlighted the necessity of providing sufficient vaccines to affected countries in Africa and promoting careful monitoring of mpox patients to manage the disease effectively. “Are we going to go in lockdown in the WHO European region, is it another Covid-19? The answer is clearly: ‘no,’” Kluge asserted.
He also noted, “Two years ago, we controlled mpox in Europe thanks to direct engagement with the most affected communities of men who have sex with men.” He challenged, “Will we choose to put the systems in place to control and eliminate mpox globally or will we enter another cycle of panic, then neglect?”
Data indicates that most Clade 2 cases were found among gay and bisexual men, especially those with multiple sexual partners, while Clade 1b is thought to be more easily transmitted through close, non-sexual contact.
Similar to human smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980, mpox is endemic to regions of west and central Africa. Its initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue, followed by distinctive skin lesions.
The WHO renamed the disease mpox in late 2022, stating that the previous designation was “racist and stigmatizing.”
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
Kluge emphasized that mpox, previously referred to as monkeypox, does not represent the same level of threat to public health as Covid-19, and is not expected to trigger a "cycle of panic" leading to lockdowns. Earlier this month, the WHO classified mpox as a public health emergency of international concern, a status it assigned to Covid-19 in early 2020. A mild variant of the virus, known as Clade 2, spread globally in 2022, while a more transmissible variant, Clade 1b, has resulted in hundreds of fatalities in central Africa and was recently identified in Sweden.
During a UN briefing on Tuesday, Kluge highlighted the necessity of providing sufficient vaccines to affected countries in Africa and promoting careful monitoring of mpox patients to manage the disease effectively. “Are we going to go in lockdown in the WHO European region, is it another Covid-19? The answer is clearly: ‘no,’” Kluge asserted.
He also noted, “Two years ago, we controlled mpox in Europe thanks to direct engagement with the most affected communities of men who have sex with men.” He challenged, “Will we choose to put the systems in place to control and eliminate mpox globally or will we enter another cycle of panic, then neglect?”
Data indicates that most Clade 2 cases were found among gay and bisexual men, especially those with multiple sexual partners, while Clade 1b is thought to be more easily transmitted through close, non-sexual contact.
Similar to human smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980, mpox is endemic to regions of west and central Africa. Its initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and fatigue, followed by distinctive skin lesions.
The WHO renamed the disease mpox in late 2022, stating that the previous designation was “racist and stigmatizing.”
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
