WHO launches global plan to contain current monkeypox outbreak
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched on Monday a $135 million Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to contain the expansion of smallpox virus transmission, formerly known as monkeypox, from September to February 2025..
The statement from the international medical institution clarified that, in addition to WHO itself, member states, partners, including the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, communities, researchers and others.
Likewise, WHO noted that efforts will focus on people at highest risk, including those in direct contact with those recently infected, as well as health workers, to break chains of transmission.
#mpox The plan is aimed at:
🔍Comprehensive disease monitoring
🛡️ Prevention, Preparedness and Response Strategies
🔬 Advancement of research and equal access to countermeasures such as diagnostic tests and vaccines.
🦠 Minimizing the transmission of the virus from animals to humans.
🤝🏼 Empowering communities… pic.twitter.com/bzJvLbxdHW— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 26, 2024
On August 14, WHO declared the MPOX virus a public health emergency of international concern after an outbreak of the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spread to neighboring countries. The latest outbreak involves a mutant strain of the virus that kills up to 10 percent of those infected and has “pandemic potential.”
The new variant of the mpox virus, called clade 1b, appears to be as deadly as its predecessor, but has evolved to better evade detection tests.