Mpox – An evolving One Health problem

Smallpox may be gone but it’s got a cousin called mpox, and that virus is now spreading fast across parts of Africa.

As of October 2024, this mpox outbreak had infected more than 40,000 people, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 1,000 people have died from the infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2024.

Officials are distributing smallpox vaccines to try to control it. The viruses are closely enough related so researchers believe that modern smallpox vaccines can protect people safely against mpox. But the rollout is slow.  It’s not clear why the virus has started spreading in households, but it’s infecting and killing more and more children.

To make matters worse, people are desperate for medicines to prevent infection and help treat symptoms, which include fevers and a rash. They’re seeking antibiotics, which cannot treat a virus. This inappropriate use of antibiotics can drive drug resistance.

This is the second time mpox has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO since 2022. A slightly different strain of mpox has been spreading since then through close contact, often sexual and often among men who have sex with men. Mpox is even now showing up in new cities and countries in North America and Europe.

Nodar Kipshidze, Senior Research Analyst at the One Health Trust, says the virus spreads easily because people often don’t know they have it. It’s also not clear where it originally came from, although small rodents and other mammals can spread it. In this episode of One World, One Health, Nodar tells us mpox is causing a lot of confusion, and we need to ensure we learn from previous outbreaks and share resources globally to stop the spread and save lives.