(VitalNews.org) – The World Health Organization has spoken out to calm the nerves of the public, saying that mpox is “not the new COVID”; this is after declaring a health emergency due to cases emerging in Africa. They stated that the emergency isn’t COVID-level, because they already know a lot about this virus and the ways to control it.
The United Nations agency declared a health emergency mostly because there is more to learn about the Claude 1b strain. WHO’s European director Hans Kluge spoke out about the spread of mpox and how it’ll be reined in.
“Mpox is not the new COVID,” Kluge said. “We know how to control mpox and, in the European region, the steps needed to eliminate its transmission altogether”
“Two years ago, we controlled mpox in Europe thanks to direct engagement with the most affected communities,” he continued.
He said that the answer was “clearly no” when considering if there would be any sort of lockdown similar to COVID-19. Transmission of this virus is mostly skin to skin and in close contact, but all the modes of transmission are not yet clear.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said that the agency is not recommending the use of masks right now, and they are not recommending mass vaccinations either.
After the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared outbreaks of mpox, reporting over five hundred associated deaths, the WHO declared the emergency. The fear around it spreading to other countries is what originally prompted the emergency.
“This is something that should concern us all,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general “The potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”
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